


One Step Further

by WillowTea



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Eventual coming out of the closet, Jamie is latino, Jamie is romance movie trash, Kevin is Bisexual, Kevin is polynesian/korean, M/M, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-08-10 12:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7844539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowTea/pseuds/WillowTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jamie Cordero, the mailman in Beach City, has never led a very interesting life. The most interesting thing to happen to him was when he fell in love with the tall drink of water known as Garnet, a crystal gem and one of the guardians of his young friend, Steven Universe. One day, when Steven and Connie invite Jamie to one of Sour Cream’s parties, his life takes a swift U-Turn and soon Jamie is starring in his own Rom-Com called Life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bad Idea

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fan fiction ever! Woohoo! I'll add more tags as the story progresses because I don't want spoilers at the moment. I re-watched several SU episodes to get this right. Also, I made up last names for Kevin and Jamie because I wanted to. I read through this a couple of times, so I hope I got everything!

“I don’t know, Steven. I’ve never really been one for parties.” Jamie said, wringing his hands around the strap of his mailbag. It still had a hefty sum of letters and packages left to deliver, but the day had barely begun and Jamie was pretty fast for a mailman. 

“C’mon, Jamie! It’ll be really fun! Sour Cream always throws the best parties!” Steven exclaimed, playing the cards he knew how to play. Which was fun and more fun. Jamie had known Steven for a while now, they were pretty good friends, but Jamie still wasn’t sure about going to a party. 

“Eh, maybe another time Steven. I planned on watching the entirety of the BBC edition of Pride and Prejudice.” He responded, continuing to wring his hands around the strap of the bag. The BBC edition was the better version, he thought. It was one of his favorite pieces and he studied day and night to learn from the actors. Sure, the newer one was good, but nothing could top six hours of Pride and Prejudice. Except six hours of Lord of the Rings. Really, Jamie was into the extremely lengthy kinds of films, his preferred genre battling between romance and fantasy/adventure. Both were really good.

“Steven’s right, Jamie. Sour Cream has the best parties. And if Kevin isn’t there, then it will be the best party!” Connie agreed, throwing her hands into the air to emphasize her point. Jamie hadn’t heard about Kevin, but the way Connie said his name made it seem like he wasn’t a very pleasant person to be around.

“No, no. Sitting at home with a big bowl of popcorn and my notepad sounds very appealing right now.” Insisted Jamie, thinking about throwing on his biggest sweater, cozying on up under his biggest comforter, and taking notes on the acting techniques of Colin Firth and Crispin Bonham-Carter. It was early November in Beach City, so the salty ocean air had a rather crisp, winter bite to it and the tradition sounded very appealing.

“Hmm, if he really wants to be an actor, then I guess he’s right, Steven.” Connie admitted with a shrug. She was a very sensible girl. Still, being twelve she enjoyed her fun now and then, she knew that, at Jamie’s age, studying would get him where he wanted to be faster.

“You know what, you are right, Connie.” Steven said, placing a hand thoughtfully on his chin and the other on his hip. Jamie, shocked, looked over at Steven, his hands freezing in place on the strap of his bag. Normally it took far more to convince Steven to drop the subject of one of Sour Cream’s parties. This wasn’t the first time Steven had tried to bring Jamie. 

“Steven?” Connie knew instantly that something was up with her best friend. He didn’t normally agree with studying, considering he never had to do any. But the look in his eyes also told her he was thinking up something devious, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to like it. Though it was more likely that she would.

“How about this, Jamie.” Steven began, putting on a voice that sounded a little bit like a business man trying to sell his product. “You come to Sour Cream’s party tonight and Connie and I will both watch the BBC edition of Pride and Prejudice with you.” Steven suggested. Connie grinned from ear to ear. She didn’t mind being pulled into this, she had time for fun during the school year and she wouldn’t mind watching an old show. Even if it was a long, boring, romance movie.

“That would be awesome, Steven. But I don’t think watching it with you is worth a party thrown by Sour Cream.” Jamie admitted, dropping his hands from his bag and tucking them into his pockets. He knew the argument had to be over soon. Plus, time was dragging on and he needed to deliver the rest of the mail in his bag.

“Yeah, yeah, but wait. What if we give our input about it? You know, someone else’s perspective?” Steven said, raising his eyebrows. The light in Jamie’s eyes was obvious. He’d watched the BBC feature a billion times on his own and was slowly running out of notes to take. But another person’s perspective? Not only one other person, but two!? And younger people, to top it off! Jamie knew he couldn’t resist this offer and, without any sign of the hesitation from earlier, agreed.

“Alright, I’ll go to the party. We’ll have to organize our Pride and Prejudice marathon later, I have mail to deliver.” Jamie said, waving at Steven and Connie as he walked away. Alright, so he was going to a party. What did one wear to parties? Jamie dwelled on this as he walked and it donned on him that he hadn’t thought of that. Or what he was supposed to do at the party. Or where it was. 

Panic began to shake Jamie as he delivered his daily mail. He’d never been to a party in his life, why did he think now was a good time to start? As he walked around town, delivering mail, he dropped into drama mode, thinking over all the worst case scenarios and how he might as well just miss the whole thing.

The sun began to go down as Jamie wrapped up his final deliveries. Racing home at the pace of a fast speed walk, he found two small children at his door. 

“Steven! Connie! I’m so glad you’re here! I have no idea what I’m doing, I’ve never been to a party in my life! I’m going to fail miserably at this partying thing, you might as well just leave me at home!” Jamie exclaimed, jogging the last several feet to the bottom of the stairs to his apartment. 

“It’s a good thing Connie pointed out that we’d left out the most important detail, then.” Steven said with a sheepish grin toward his partner in crime. Connie smiled back at him.

“We forgot to tell you where the party was. Could we go up with you?” She asked, gesturing up the stairs toward Jamie’s apartment. When he nodded they started up first, Jamie tailing along behind them. Once they reached the front door, Jamie unlocked it and the two went tumbling in, trying to get inside quickly so Jamie could follow after them. 

Once he was inside and the door shut behind him, he was attacked.

“First, we have to get rid of this bag.” Connie said, standing on the couch in his living room to sling the strap of the bag over his head as Steven added, “and this hat,” while removing said hat. 

The two placed a hand on their chin and crossed the other over their stomach in imitation of each other, like they had done this before. 

“Do you own anything cooler?” Steven asked, gesturing to Jamie’s clothes as if a fashion expert. Jamie nodded his head defiantly. 

“Of course I do, this is just my work uniform.” Jamie responded defensively. He walked down the hall to the right, followed closely by Steven, toward his bedroom. It appeared Connie hadn’t followed them, but Jamie was alright with that. The sensible girl knew better than to go into a person’s room without invitation. 

The walls of the room were covered in movie posters and odds and ends found in yard sales claiming to be from a movie of some kind. Steven looked awed at the whole display while Jamie opened a couple of drawers for something to wear. 

“How about this?” Jamie asked, pulling out his favorite maroon sweater and a pair of black pants. Steven looked them over, assessing the outfit before shaking his head lightly.

“No, no. The sweater’s good, but black slacks aren’t party pants.” Steven said, walking over to join Jamie next to the open drawers of his dresser. Jamie dropped the pants back into the drawer and watched as Steven dug around a bit. With an exclamation of ‘aha’ Steven resumed a normal standing position and offered out a pair of dark wash jeans with rips and tears all over them.

“These are perfect!” He exclaimed triumphantly, offering the pants for Jamie to take.

“Steven, those are my dirty work pants. For painting and gardening.” He had worn them a lot in his younger years and that was why they were so torn. He refused to wear them in public unless he was out gardening, which, he realized, wasn’t something he ever did.

“When do you paint and garden?” Asked Steven, clearly just curious. Jamie sighed because Steven had unintentionally pointed out the obvious.

“Never.” Jamie responded. The pants were clean, as if they had never been worn. The only sign of love was the tears all down both legs. They were from various accidents; walking into a splintered fence, tripping while walking down the sidewalk, kneeling down all too often to pick up the contents of his backpack. They were well loved, but they were not intended for public use.

“Then they’ll be fine!” Exclaimed Steven before he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. Jamie sighed. This was pointless. Steven knew more about Sour Cream’s parties, anyway. Listening to him would probably make this party experience much smoother.

In only a few minutes Jamie emerged from his bedroom wearing the sweater – which was bigger than he remembered it being – and the ripped jeans. Connie ooh-ed at his mature appearance and Steven giggled excitedly.

“C’mon, we should go before we’re late!” Connie said with an excited grin, racing toward the door and down the stairs, followed by Steven who called, “but it’s cool to be late!” Jamie followed behind them, walking rather than running, and locked up the door behind him. 

The venue for the party wasn’t very far from Jamie’s house, so the three walked. Not having his bag made his nerves stand up on end like hairs in a horror film. He had nothing to calm himself, so he began to wring his hands instead, feeling the friction rubbing them raw.

Connie and Steven walked before him, chattering like excited little monkeys. Jamie had seen them this excited before, but normally he watched with amusement and wonder at how they could possibly be so carefree and relaxed. Now he watched them with nervousness and ill ease. He was going to bomb the whole evening and ruin it for them. There was no avoiding it. 

The main reason Jamie avoided Sour Cream’s parties so adamantly was because he couldn’t dance. There was no rhythm in his feet and his head just couldn’t wrap around the idea of a beat. What he could do was sway back and forth, but it looked more like a nervous tick than dancing. He’d been told all his life that he was an awful dancer. Girls laughed at him, his parents teased him, his sisters mocked him. So Jamie avoided dancing at all costs. 

And now he was going to a dance party. 

What had he even been thinking? The idea of Steven and Connie giving him new insight on a movie he had been obsessed with since he was a child was so enticing he hadn’t been thinking, and now that they were almost there, Jamie realized how stupid it was that he had thought their input was worth it. 

“Um, guys, I think I’m just going to go home.” Jamie finally said, the venue coming to view as he did so. It was a large warehouse Jamie knew was normally abandoned. No one owned it, so it was a popular hangout for teenagers and thugs. “You don’t have to binge Pride and Prejudice with me.” He added, backing away and waving, all too excited to go home and curl up in a blanket and some sweats. Something with far less holes than the pants he was currently wearing.

“Nonsense, Jamie!” Steven exclaimed, turning around and grabbing Jamie by the arm. Ah! Since when did he have such a strong grip? Connie grinned at him too, grabbing his other arm, despite his attempts at avoiding her. Her grip was almost as strong as Steven’s.

“Yeah, Jamie! This will be worth it, you just have to go inside and see.” Connie said, joining in with Steven as they dragged him closer to the entrance of the warehouse. There was a bright, dull light flooding across the field before them, reaching for the empty neighborhood beyond it. Music pumped out from every hole the warehouse had and Jamie could hear laughing and chatter over the thundering bass. 

“I don’t know guys. This is feels less and less worth it by the second.” He whined, not fighting hard enough to actually get away. He had given up minutes ago when he realized how strong their grips were. They were two little kids, how on Earth was he so incapable of escaping them?

“You just have to go inside.” Steven insisted, dragging Jamie into the wide, gaping mouth of the warehouse where everyone else entered. With that, he let go and Jamie stood, frozen in place by the sheer energy pouring out over him. This wasn’t his scene; he was too quiet for something like this. He preferred watching movies or Broadway plays or musicals. Something quiet with clean, pure energy.

Jamie felt dirty just looking at the place.

The walls were rusted and decaying, the people inside wore crop tops, scarves, sunglasses, and high top shoes. They were hip and cool and Jamie felt extremely out of place among them. How was he supposed to have fun when he didn’t even know anyone here? Other than Steven and Connie, Jamie was a butterfly in a wasps nest. 

“St-Steven. I think I should go now.” Jamie muttered, but he was inaudible to the small boy who had run off with Connie toward the DJ table where Sour Cream was, messing with flips and switches and buttons and dials that were alien to Jamie. Clumps and groups of people partied to his left and right, none of them Jamie recognized. He had lived in Beach City most of his life, and yet he knew none of these faces.

Most of them were close to his age, if not his age. He should have known them, or at least known of them. But none of them were familiar. Whenever he delivered mail, it was the older generation that hung out on the front porch and chatted with him for a few minutes before he moved on. They were quiet and kind, just like him. He really didn’t want to be here.

“Hey, man! You’re missing the white!” The voice was raspy and low, not one Jamie recognized. Turning abruptly he was attacked by some guy with long, rope-like hair and a glowing blue bandana on his head. He slammed his hand down on Jamie’s head before backing away and nodding as if in approval.

“Wh-what was that?” Jamie asked, throwing his hands toward his head as the guy walked away. Where there hadn’t been something before, a hat sat on his head. Taking it off he observed the cyan blue shade it sported and realized that it’s almost glowing blue quality was due to the black lights thrown carelessly about the large space. It was actually just a simple white hate.

Upon further observation, Jamie noticed everyone else had some sort of white clothing article that made the entire room glow. Steven and Connie had even found something to add to their usual outfits that glowed in the same light. Jamie glanced back down at the hat. It was a badly made, plastic fedora. The top was smashed in due to the force the guy had used and there were small fractures along the dents.

“That hat isn’t your thing. Here, have this.” This new voice was almost melodic and calming. It was low in the super relaxed, confident sort of way. Jamie looked up to find the person speaking to him wasn’t much taller than him, but had beautiful brown skin and dark hair and eyes. He seemed perpetually half-lidded in the way that reminded Jamie of someone half asleep. 

The boy grabbed the broken hat out of Jamie’s hands and handed him something soft. It was a pure white color that glowed a radiant blue in the light, but had a big black “MINE” lettered along its thick edge. Upon further investigation, Jamie found it was a beanie, one of those floppy, skier caps that he had never even held in his life. 

He looked back up at the guy, who rolled his eyes. Tossing the other hat aside – it hit someone who turned in protest but was ignored with arrogant ease – he grabbed the hat out of Jamie’s hands and placed it snuggly on his head. Carefully, and almost gently, the other boy swept Jamie’s hair from his eyes and caressed his face.

Jamie blushed.

“Wh-what are you doing?” He protested, taking a step back only to be grabbed by the boys other hand and pulled in closer, their chests pressed firmly together. Jamie was well aware of the warmth coming from the taller guy, the smell of AXE on his scarf, and the small beads of sweat present on his brow.

“Hey baby.” He whispered, and Jamie felt a tingly sensation tickle down his spine. Was it pleasant? Jamie didn’t think it was. “You’ve got great moves. But watch, now, it’s Kevin time.” Each word was whispered into Jamie’s ear and he felt the tingly sensation every single time it brushed passed his ear.

“B-but I haven’t even d-danced yet.” Jamie protested as Kevin spun him around and held him tight once again.

“That’s doesn’t matter, baby. Your moves are in the shape of your body, and your body’s fine.” Kevin continued to dance with Jamie. Clumsily, Jamie’s feet followed the moves but Kevin held him up and kept him from tripping. His grip was too tight, Jamie felt himself panicking.

“B-but we’re both guys!” He continued to protest, hoping something he said would break through Kevin’s apparently thick head. As Kevin spun him out and then back in, he smirked and pressed his forehead to Jamie’s.

“Gender doesn’t matter, baby. We’re dancing, that’s what matters.” Kevin whispered, his breath smelling strongly of lemon and tickling Jamie’s eyelashes. Jamie freaked out. With all the force he could muster, he pushed off of Kevin and flung himself backward into a small group of partiers. Tripping on a broken warehouse tile, he fell flat in his rear.

“You okay, Jamie?” This voice was familiar and Jamie was almost relieved to hear her. He looked up at Kiki, rubbing the spot on his butt he had fallen onto. She offered him a hand and he took it, standing back up and looking behind her to where Kevin stood, discombobulated and trying to regain his senses.

“Yeah, I’m f-fine. I think I’m going to go.” He said, letting go of her hand and turning toward the gaping hole in the side of the building where he had entered.

“Okay, but the party just got started.” She said, putting her hands on her hips and watching as he headed toward the exit. 

Jamie regretted agreeing to this. This was not what he had expected. Sure, he had expected it to be awkward, energetic, and loud. But Kevin was a surprise Jamie had not wanted to run into. Gender didn’t matter?! Of course gender mattered, Jamie was straight. Sure, the only time he had ever had feelings for someone it had ended up being a tall woman who didn’t reciprocate his feelings, but he knew what love felt like, even if it had been false at the time. 

What he felt around Kevin was scared.

“Hey, baby. Where are you going? The part just started.” Kevin had found him, creeping along the back wall, hiding behind the groups of dancers. His slender wrist stared Jamie right in the face and, with a hard swallow; Jamie looked up into the dark eyes of the taller boy. His face was smooth, almost perfect, and Jamie wondered if he was secretly a movie star. 

“I’m-I’m going home. I don’t care if the party just started; this is not my kind of scene.” He insisted, pushing at Kevin’s arm to get it out of the way. 

“Then make it your scene, baby.” Kevin said with a small smile playing on his lips. Jamie was astonished. This guy had no quit! Where did he stop? When did he learn enough was enough? 

“Hey, Kevin. Back here.” There was a tap on Kevin’s shoulder and the taller boy turned around to face a stunning woman, just slightly taller than him. Jamie was surprised by the appearance of this mysterious woman, as was Kevin. However, Jamie’s surprise was accompanied with relief and Kevin’s with something else he couldn’t read.

“It’s you.” He said with something that sounded like distaste. Jamie had never seen this woman before, but she was beyond beautiful and almost a full foot taller than him.

“Are you bothering this guy?” She asked, putting both hands on her hips and shifting her weight onto one foot. Kevin looked toward Jamie and then back toward the woman. He was assessing whether it was worth it to fight this girl or to give in. 

He gave in.

“You’re obsessed with me. You just keep coming back.” He spoke in a smug fashion, but something in the way he spoke was angry. Kevin was being one upped by a tall woman with a beautiful face. He was flustered, Jamie could see it in the way he crossed his arms but didn’t fight back. 

“Jamie, are you okay?” She asked, leaning down slightly to look Jamie in the eye. He nodded his head, numbed by her beauty. Her eyes flooded with relief . “Good. C’mon, we should go.” She said, grabbing Jamie’s arm and leading him away from the dancers and out into the chilly night air, the sound of Kevin’s voice accusing her of being obsessed following behind them. 

They made it several hundred feet away from the warehouse before the woman began glowing and within seconds Jamie was standing with Steven and Connie.

“What…?” Jamie muttered, coming to his senses as he realized the beautiful woman was his two young friends. Steven and Connie had told him about their fusing, that it was normal for crystal gems and other gems to do it, but that theirs had been a surprise. It had been an interesting story, but they hadn’t told the entire story and Jamie had never seen the beautiful Stevonnie before. 

“Sorry about him. He’s still a jerk.” Connie said, bitterness weaved into her words as her and Steven continued down the sidewalk. Jamie had to trot to catch up with him.

“You’ve run into him before?” Jamie asked, realizing after he had asked this that this was the Kevin they had spoken of earlier in the day. The way Kevin had reacted to them as one made it clear they had bad blood, and the pieces started clicking together like a puzzle. 

“Yeah. We met him at one of Sour Cream’s raves and he did the same thing to us that he did to you.” Connie responded, sounding just a little less bitter as they walked on. Steven was oddly quiet about the whole thing. It didn’t take long before he joined in.

“Then we raced him again and came to a decision. We weren’t going to let him bug us. Even if he’s still a big jerk.” Steven added and Connie nodded, but their expressions clearly said that Kevin still bugged them, even if it was just a little bit.

“But we never thought he would go so far as to bother one of our friends. What was he thinking? You’re both guys!” Connie flailed her arms in distress at these words and Jamie remembered saying the same thing. He flushed at the memory of Kevin’s response and realized he had enjoyed the feeling of Kevin’s warmth against his own body. 

No, not Kevin’s. Just the idea of someone else being so close.

“There are some people out there that don’t care about genders.” Jamie muttered, not even sure if they had heard them. Connie made a confused faced and she and Steven dropped back to walk beside Jamie.

“Yeah. I think I get it.” Steven said, and it appeared he was trying to work out the thoughts in his head. He had been raised by the crystal gems, their idea of love and genders had been all he knew and having to see if from the outside world for the first time appeared to be giving him a headache.

“It’s okay. You guys don’t need to understand it. I’m just glad you were there to help me.” Jamie said, hoping they didn’t try too hard to grasp the idea of same gender relationships too hard. If they really wanted to know they could ask someone else, Jamie had no idea how to explain it. 

By this point they had reached his apartment. Steven and Connie stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Jamie started up.

“Hey, Jamie?” Connie called when he reached the first landing. Jamie stopped and turned to look at his two friends. 

“Yeah?” He asked, wondering what the problem was. She seemed a little troubled about something. 

“We’re sorry we dragged you along.” She apologized, looking at Jamie with her big eyes. Jamie opened his mouth to say something when Steven added in, “yeah, we don’t deserve to binge Pride and Prejudice with you.” This made Jamie laugh and he cracked a smile.

“It’s alright. I still want your guys’ feedback.” He replied with a grin, making Steven brighten up a bunch and Connie’s worried look disappear from her face. “But for now, go home. I think we all deserve some sleep.” He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and realizing it kind of ached. Where had that come from?

“Alright! See you tomorrow, Jamie!” Steven shouted and Connie waved as Steven ran off and she hurried to follow. Jamie watched them run down the dark street, laughing as they went. He considered walking them home, it was dark and they were kids, but as he thought this the familiar shape of Mr. Universe’s van pulled up to the sidewalk and Steven and Connie got in. 

With a sigh, Jamie continued up the stairs and unlocked his door. Shuffling into the small apartment he kicked off his shoes, locked the door, and shut it behind him. Tiredly he shuffled toward his bedroom, feet creating the slightest static as he walked. The warmth of his apartment invaded his whole body and he realized how absolutely freezing he had been. The bitter November air was not something one wanted to walk around in at night.

It also didn’t help he was wearing torn jeans. It didn’t take long for him to reach his room and fall face first into the mattress. Unable to breath in this position he turned over and felt his hair ruffle awkwardly. Grabbing at his head he took off the beanie that Kevin had given him. A small feeling fluttered in his chest. It smelled like AXE. 

Jamie’s eyes snapped open and he realized he had dozed with the beanie against his face. Tossing is violently across the room he curled up in the opposite direction. He was crazy. Kevin was a jerk and had forced him to dance. He didn’t like the guy, not even in a friendly way. But why was he so flustered when he thought about the smell of AXE and the feeling of Kevin’s warmth against his body? 

These thoughts muddled through Jamie’s head for long into the night and soon he was asleep before he had even realized he was dozing.


	2. Bad Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven's ridiculous choice in clothing leaves Jamie with a headache, sore throat, and a nasty cold from the previous night. When a coworker sets him to rights, he falls asleep and has an awful dream that begins to haunt him until further strange events push it into the back of his mind. Jamie figures he can safely conclude he has the worst luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh guys! Thanks for the comments and the kudos! This one's a little slap dash but I'm starting to think out an actual plot to all of this, so bear with me!

The next morning there was a horrible tapping sound coming from somewhere else in the apartment. Jamie groaned miserably, a headache instantly splitting his skull as he stretched his body out across the bed. His left arm was numb from being slept on and his back was sore from sleeping in such an awkward position. Slowly he sat up on the bed, looking around through half opened eyes, fighting against the pain in his head. It wasn’t like he had had anything to drink the previous night. It had just been a stupid party.

He had been to a party.

Groaning again Jamie threw his hands over his face and fell backward onto the bed, cringing at the pin pricks in his left arm. Why had he been so stupid? The reason he had a headache was because of the sound. He had never been inside someplace with such loud music before, so the withdrawal was hardcore. The beat thrummed in his head, keeping time with the pulse of his splitting head ache. He was still wearing the sweater and jeans from the previous night. He had fallen asleep in his clothes. They smelled of sweat and AXE body spray. This made Jamie groan again at the memory of Kevin pulling him in close and the warmth of the other man’s body on his-

His thoughts were interrupted by the tapping sound and this time Jamie recognized it as someone knocking at his door. 

“Coming!” He called, flinching instantly after he had. The action had caused the headache to flare and he realized his throat was also pretty sore. Gosh, why did people go to parties? Parties were awful. They left him feeling hung over and tired. Jamie wanted nothing more than to sleep. 

Standing, he stretched his body to its full height, touching the ceiling of his small bedroom with the very tips of his fingers. There were several pops and cracks as his bones slid back into place. By this point the tingling in his left arm had completely disappeared and the crick in his back was gone. The only thing left was the headache and the sore throat. 

Not even bothering to stop in the bathroom first – he had kept the visitor waiting long enough – he shuffled down the small hallway and into the living room. Approaching the door he looked through the peephole to see who it was first. Who knew, maybe Kevin was the crazy stalker type and had figured out where he lived? 

It was Barbara Miller. 

Moving to unlock the door he realized he had left it unlocked the entire night. Crap, he could have easily been robbed. Shaking if off and reminding himself to not let his fatigue get the better of his safety he opened the door to the woman standing before him. She wore her mailman’s uniform and had a peppy, mostly awake look about her.

“Gosh, Jamie, you look awful.” Was the first thing out of her mouth as she took in the sore sight that was Jamie Cordero. Grunting he ran his fingers through his hair and stretched his back again before leaning against the doorjamb. 

“Hey, Barbara. What brings you here?” He asked, trying to act casual but flinching against his headache noticeably. Barbara put on a worried look and approached him, resting the back of her hand on his forehead before clicking her tongue.

“When you didn’t show up for work without a call everyone was worried. You were along my route, so I decided to stop by.” She said, pressing her hands against his neck next. He felt her hands on his skin, cold as the bitter November wind rolling off the ocean waves. “Geez, kiddo, you’ve got yourself one mighty fever.” This comment was followed by her pushing at him to get him back inside. Stumbling at the sudden aggressive use of force, Jamie allowed her to shut the door behind herself. 

“Ugh, I forgot about work.” He groaned, shuffling down the hall at the prompting of Barbara’s hand against his back. He didn’t protest as she walked him into the kitchen and sat him down on a chair before she filled up a glass of water and gave it to him. Gratefully he took a big chug of the water, feeling the cool liquid slide over his ragged throat. 

“What were you doing yesterday?” Barbara asked, leaning against the counter and looking him one over real good. She raised her eyebrows at the sight of his torn jeans and he felt his already red face redden. It was embarrassing, having a coworker see him like this. 

“Steven and Connie invited me to a party last night.” Jamie admitted, not hesitating to tell the truth. It was a bit embarrassing, but he needed to tell her what happened if she was going to help him. Jamie rarely got sick. He was such a shut in that catching or cold or the flu wasn’t very likely to happen. Occasionally he got a sore throat or a cough from being around people who were sick, but all he did was walk the streets of Beach City and deliver mail. Running into people just happened on occasion. 

“And you went? Man, I didn’t think you were the partying type.” She responded with an amused chuckle. Jamie looked toward the linoleum floor with shame. Barbara stopped laughing and took a seat next to him. “How did you manage to catch a cold, though? Other than wearing those ridiculous pants and that old sweater?” Barbara asked, leaning in to try and look him in the eyes. Jamie sighed and shrugged.

“Steven, Connie and I left early and we walked home.” He responded and Barbara clicked her tongue again.

“You’re not very bright sometimes, Jamie. C’mon, get up. Let’s get you into something warmer.” Barbara said, tugging lightly at Jamie’s arm as she stood, prompting him into standing as well. The two headed toward Jamie’s room where he collapsed on the bed, not caring a single ounce that his coworker was rifling through his drawers. She tossed a pair of sweats and a big college sweater at Jamie.

“Why were you wearing that, anyway? That doesn’t seem like you.” Barbara said, leaving the room to rifle through the bathroom cupboards while he changed. His movements were slow and aching as he suddenly realized how very, very tired he was. Gosh, he was so stupid.

“The sweater was my idea, but Steven said the pants looked cool.” He responded as he pulled the sweater over his head. She hadn’t tossed a shirt at him and he didn’t want to bother grabbing one, so he simply pulled it over his bare chest with a bit of a struggle. As soon as he resurfaced from the sweatshirt he saw Barbara exiting the bathroom with a bottle of something he didn’t recognize. 

“Never listen to Steven, Jamie. He doesn’t know everything.” She said, walking right up to him and taking a small cup off the lid of the bottle she was holding. Now that she was closer, Jamie’s blurry eyes could read the words on the bottle. It was just cold medicine. She poured a measured amount into the cup and then handed it to him. “Why the sweater? That thing’s so old and thin, it should just be thrown out.” She pointed out as he downed the cup of bitter tasting liquid. 

“I didn’t realize it was so thin.” He responded honestly as she took the cup back from him and headed to the bathroom where she cleaned it out and placed both it and the bottle back into the cupboard. 

“Well, now you know. Should I save you the trouble and throw it and the pants out for you?” Barbara asked as she headed back into the bedroom, crossing her arms over her chest. Jamie nodded in defeat and she grabbed the items off the bed. He followed her out of the bedroom and down the small hallway where she stopped just inside the living room.

“Now, don’t do too much, alright? Eat something warm. Do you have any soup?” She asked and Jamie thought. What did he have that was soup-like?

“I have some Ramen.” He responded and Barbara nodded with enthusiasm.

“Right, that’s perfect! Make yourself some Ramen, cozy up on the couch, watch a movie. And sleep some, alright?” She instructed and Jamie nodded. She turned toward the door and had her hand on the handle when Jamie spoke.

“Barbara?” He said, straining his throat just to get the words out. She turned around and gave him a quizzical look. “Thanks.” This earned him a small smile from Barbara. 

“No problem, kid.” She responded before opening the door and leaving, shutting it behind her. 

Jamie sighed into the silence of the room and shuffled toward the door. Locking it firmly he leaned his head against the it and sighed again. Memories of the previous night came flooding back and he growled at the memory of Kevin’s face, making his head ache even more. 

It was quick work, making the Ramen, since all he had to do was stand by the pot and wait for it to boil – which actually took forever – and then just stir the Ramen until it was done enough to eat. He added the flavoring and dumped it all into a bowl. Setting this on the coffee table he dragged a blanket from his room into the living room and popped in Star Trek before curling up into a ball on the couch under the blanket.

Jamie had barely finished the Ramen before he fell asleep on the couch, letting the warmth coursing through his body take him over and drag him into a deep, enveloping sleep. 

\---------------------------------------

Slowly he blinked. What was happening? The edges of his vision were fuzzy black blurs and his eyes were having trouble adjusting to the light. It was a bright white light, coming from directly overhead. As if he lay on an operating table.

Then there was a feeling.

It started in his gut and inched its way up his chest. As it rose he suddenly realized it was kind of painful. It was almost like a paper cut, clean and concise. Twitching, he looked down at his body to find he was completely exposed except a single white cloth over his pelvis. The disembodied arm of a surgeon drew a straight line from his belly button to his collar bone with a clean scalpel. Oddly, it was only kind of painful. Jamie had always imagined a moment like this would be more painful but the scalpel didn’t make him scream in pain. Instead, it tickled in a prickly way, reminding him of something he had felt before.

A face came into view just as he realized this and he yelled out when he realized the face was that of Kevin. 

“Don’t worry, baby. I got you.” He whispered, leaning in close to Jamie’s ear, nibbling the earlobe before Jamie scrunched himself into a tight ball and the feeling of Kevin’s breath and the scalpel’s cut went away.

For several long moments he remained where he was, curled into a ball and breathing heavy. The surface beneath him softened slightly and he felt himself bouncing lightly on whatever he was sitting on.

“Get up, silly! It’s just a bee!” Shouted a child’s voice. Jamie recognized it immediately, but didn’t unroll quite as quickly. Slowly he removed his arms over his head and realized the scene was no longer the bright, hard to see procedure room, but instead a bright landscape full of beauty and life. He could see every detail as if it were actually happening. His arms uncurled further and he realized, as he placed them beside him, that he was in a hammock. The rough, outdoor material was blue and white stripped and had a hole big enough to stick a pencil into just below his pinkie finger.

Jamie knew that hammock.

“C’mon, Jamie! The bee is gone and mom’s calling for lunch!” The voice sounded again, this time right next to him, making him flinch as his eyes shot up to look into the bright brown eyes staring him right in the face. The detail in the face was so clear; he could see every freckle along her cheek bones and at the corners of her eyes.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked, backing away to reveal he was right about who he had heard. It was a small girl, shorter than Steven, with short, choppy hair that looked as if she had cut it herself. It was a dark brown but it shone brilliantly in the sun. She wore jean overalls over a pink shirt and had a Dora clip in her hair.

“Uh, I d-don’t know.” Jamie admitted truthfully, finding his voice was higher than he remembered it being. The girl grinned and snatched his hand, dragging him roughly out of the hammock.

“Then I’ll make you okay!” She exclaimed excitedly and Jamie realized he was barely taller than her. This wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. “C’mon, mom’s making your favorite!” The girl added on, yanking at his hand once she had seen he was on balance with the solid ground. Jamie followed after her, echoing exactly how he remembered this going:

“Tacos!?” The girl giggled excitedly as they neared the house. The scenery began to fade around them and Jamie panicked. There had to be something he could do to keep this going! He looked around frantically for something to save the memory, but it was fading fast and he had no idea what to use. The house before them disappeared, but the girl kept running. She laughed as she grew in size, becoming taller alongside Jamie.

Her steps slowed and soon they were at a full stop. Feebly she grabbed his other hand and they stood, facing each other. Jamie felt tears streaming down his face.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you okay.” He whispered, watching her beautiful smile as it grew bigger, the worry and concern in her brow chiseled in like an age old enemy. She was too young for those lines, too much life stood before her. Alone, they stood, in the darkness that was his mind.

And then his sister disappeared.

There was a sudden start from somewhere and the blackness began to glow slightly. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he turned to find the glowing coming from behind him. Emerging from the bright light was the beautiful woman that had saved him from Kevin the previous night.

“Steven. Connie.” He whispered, not sure what else to call her but his two friends’ names. She smiled, recognizing the names she went by. Her long strides reached him in a matter of seconds and soon they were standing face to face, the woman taller than him by a few inches. 

“My name’s Stevonnie.” She informed him as she pulled her hair behind her head and tied it with a ponytail holder. From the gem on her stomach she drew a large, rose-y pink sword decorated with roses. In her hand materialized a shield to match the sword.

With a single swift move she stabbed Jamie in the heart.

The scene changed quicker this time, no tricks or gimmicks. One moment he was standing before Stevonnie, the next he was in the warehouse, but it was empty. There was no music, no sound, no Stevonnie. The tiles reflected the sunlight coming from the gaping hole in the side of the building.

Jamie turned to look through it and found it was sunset. The beautiful light played off the walls around him, making the rusty, broken room more magical and mystical. As soon as he realized how beautiful the sunset made the place, he heard a sound from the other side of the room.

Turning to where there had been nothing before, Jamie spotted someone crouching on the ground. He was on his knees, his hands placed with the palms open on the tile he was sitting on. His shoulders slumped and shook and he made the sound again.

He was sobbing.

“Hello?” Jamie called, walking a couple of steps toward the hunched person. From the back it was hard to tell who it was, but they wore a dark jacket and a white scarf. Their hair was a dark brown and the skin Jamie could see below it was a coco power brown. 

“Leave me alone.” The voice whispered this harshly, his shoulders clenching and his voice cracking. Despite the anger and devastation Jamie recognized the voice. It had the same intensity when it whispered in his ear at the party.

“Kevin?” He asked, approaching more now that he knew who it was. He seemed upset, not dangerous, and Jamie didn’t want to leave him in a moment of distress. More sobs echoed in the empty space around them but there were also small growls attempting to work their way into his voice.

“I said, leave me alone.” He hissed, his head twitching in the direction of Jamie’s voice. Jamie flinched, taking a step back, trying to decide if it was right to approach Kevin. He clearly didn’t want Jamie anywhere near him, but he was upset and Jamie wasn’t going to just leave him.

“Kevin, I can help. Let me help.” Jamie said, taking a few more steps closer before resting his hand warily on Kevin’s shoulder. Instantly he felt Kevin tense up and before he knew it the other man had whipped around and rammed Jamie in the chest. The force knocked the air out of Jamie’s lungs and he landed with a thud on the hard tile floor of the warehouse. His eyes began to blur, black creeping into the edges of his vision. He couldn’t breathe, there was no air coming into his lungs, he simply lay there, gasping like a fish out of water. 

“Jamie! Oh my gosh, Jamie!” It was Kevin, leaning into his vision and grabbing his head to place on his lap. “I’m so sorry, Jamie. I’m so-“ his voice broke “-I’m so sorry.” The sobs kept wracking Kevin’s shoulders as Jamie’s vision faded entirely. 

\---------------------------------------

“Good morning, Beach City!” Jamie exclaimed, jumping through the front doors of the mail office with a flare of his hands and a shake of his hips. All the faces turned to him with surprise written clearly in each expression. Barbara Miller was the first to thaw from the shock and instead started to laugh before approaching Jamie and patting him on the back.

“Wow, that day off did wonders for you!” She said enthusiastically as Jamie coughed from her hearty patting. When he finally recovered he nodded and sucked in a deep breath.

“Yeah, I took your advice. I had some Ramen, curled up on the couch to watch a movie and fell asleep halfway through it.” Jamie explained with a big grin. His face turned concerned for a moment as he added, “though I had this awful dream.” The dream haunted his thoughts more than the night of the party. 

Barbara laughed and shook her head, nudging Jamie’s arm and heading toward the back room to collect his mail and get punched in. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo. Fever dreams are always really strange. It was probably nothing.” She said as they pushed through the back door and joined the rest of the Beach City mailmen. There weren’t very many, the city was pretty small for a city. 

“Yeah, but this one was…more than a dream.” Jamie said, recalling the memory of his sister and holding back tears at the thought of it. Barbara shook her head. Jamie filled his bag with the letters for his route.

“It’s alright, kiddo. It’s not like it means anything.” She threw out these words as if they were nothing. Jamie figured she was probably right. Dreams incorporated memories all the time, the rest of it was just something his mind had made up while he was sick. That made more sense than the dream meaning anything. 

“Yeah, alright. I’ll be off then.” Jamie told her and she waved as he headed out the door to start his route. The walking was his favorite part of being a mailman. He was allowed to clear his mind and think things over. The dream was nothing, he was fine, it was time to resume his life like normal. 

As Jamie walked long his route, putting letters in mailboxes, handing them to the receiver, or pushing them through the mail slot on the door, he thought about the dream and the party. His job allowed him to think over these two events since all he had to do was find the right house and deliver the mail. It was a job that took little thought and made it possible to think hard about life and his choices. 

“Hola, Jaime.” The voice was old and growing older and one Jamie was familiar with. 

“Hola, abuelita.” The woman was old and crouched over and almost always in the porch when Jamie passed by. She had taken to calling him Jaime because it reminded her of home and he didn’t protest it. She wasn’t actually his abuelita, just an old Spanish woman he knew well due to delivering her mail every time there was mail to be delivered. She was always sitting on her porch so they talked every time he stopped by. 

“You’re looking skinny. You need more food. Let me get you some.” She insisted, beginning to rise from her chair. Jamie laughed and reached out a hand to place on hers to keep her from getting up.

“It’s fine, abuelita. I was sick yesterday, so I didn’t eat much. But I did have a big breakfast.” Jamie insisted as she clicked her tongue and looked him over. She looked doubtful. 

“Jaime, you need to eat more. Let me get you something right now.” She insisted and Jamie shook his head, another laugh playing at the tip of his lips. The little old woman was very motherly to almost anyone who passed by, but Jamie reminded her of Spain and she was always nostalgic for her home country. 

“Abuelita, I’m just here to deliver the mail. I’ve to get going.” Jamie insisted as he handed her a small stack of letters. Again she clicked her tongue, but she knew the importance of work, so she let him go. 

Waving to abuelita, he walked away and down the street. There weren’t many more deliveries to make, so it was quick work and before he knew it the sun was at the top of the sky and it was time for lunch. He would have a few other deliveries to make once he got back to the post office to pick them up, but he always enjoyed taking a walk along the beach before his lunch break.

The brunette walked silently on the sidewalk beside the sandy beach, watching the waves roll back and forth along the sand. It was chilly out, the November wind biting his exposed skin. Jamie didn’t mind it, though, since the weather in Beach City was always perfect to him. Beach City was where he belonged. Nowhere else. 

With a yelp and a thud, Jamie tripped on something on the ground. He hadn’t been paying any attention to where he was going and had tripped on a cracked part of the sidewalk, finding himself on the solid concrete. 

“Ow.” He groaned, pushing himself into a kneeling position. His mailbag was empty, luckily, and there were no letters he needed to clean up. But where his hands had caught his fall there were red scrapes, but no blood. They hurt and stung and there was sand in every crease of each hand. Great, that was not going to be good for the wounds. Brushing his hands gently against the shirt of his uniform, he turned himself onto his bum and sat crisscross. His knees were red but there were no scratches, so he was relieved. 

From out of nowhere a pair of legs showed up just in front of him and a hand shoved itself into his window of vision. Looking up, Jamie began to turn red and shake either out of nerves or anger.

“Hey, baby. Need help up?” Kevin asked, the other hand in his pocket as if it was nothing to help someone up every once in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fever dream was my favorite part! I imagine Jamie's sister would look a lot like Ellie from Up. Also, prepare yourselves for future gut punches if you're prone to getting feels.


	3. Bad Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie returned to work only to run into Kevin immediately. What happens to Jamie when Kevin decides to play the nice guy instead of flirt with him all day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for the awesome comments! This is getting to be really fun and there's a plot forming, though I still don't have an idea of chapter count. Probably a few. Or more.

Jamie began to blush instantly. What was with this guy? Always showing up at the worst possible moments to ruin his perfectly normal day! Granted, he had only met Kevin once and it was on the most abnormal day of Jamie’s entire life, because of his dream the previous night he felt like Kevin was invading his space and there was no room for him to breath.

Begrudgingly he took Kevin’s hand.

“Thanks.” He muttered as Kevin lazily pulled Jamie to his feet. The brunette half expected the taller man to pull him in close and look into his eyes in the same manner he had at the party. But instead, Kevin let go of his hand and put it into his pocket, looking Jamie over.

“So you’re a mailman?” Kevin asked, his soft voice curious. A part of Jamie was pretty sure he was going to laugh. He didn’t know why, no one ever laughed at his job as mailman. After a few years of getting used to it, he had even stopped seeing it as lame. This all came crumbling down in one question and the look on Kevin’s face.

“Yes, I am.” Jamie huffed proudly, wrapping his fingers around the strap of his mail bag. He felt his nervous begin to dance through his body, sending shivers and chatters through his fingers and down his spine. He began wringing the strap absently as Kevin smiled and nodded.

“Hey, that’s cool, baby.” Kevin said with a shrug, shifting his weight as if he was getting ready to leave. His entire body moved fluidly, as if he was in the water and was moving with it and against it at the same time. It was a beautiful sight and Jamie almost had to pry his eyes away from him to focus on his annoyingly bored looking face. “I’m a pizza delivery boy.” 

For a second, Jamie was surprised. Kevin wore nice clothes and spoke in a cool, rich boy sort of manner. Jamie had always thought, since meeting him, that he was a spoiled rotten rich kid who was never going to move out and would end up inheriting the house and all the money he needed when his parents died. But a pizza delivery boy seemed low quality for the high quality standing before him.

Then it clicked.

“Yeah. Right.” Jamie muttered sarcastically before turning on his heel in the direction he had originally been traveling in. He had to get back to the office and grab lunch. He didn’t want to be late and freak Barbara out again. 

There was laughing from behind him and the click of shoes as Kevin trotted to catch up to him. It really only took the taller boy a couple of steps since Jamie hadn’t made it very far. Kevin assumed a natural walking position next to Jamie, his hands still in his pockets, a small smiled on his face.

“I suppose I can’t fool you.” He said with a gentle laugh, something Jamie had never heard before. It was smooth and relaxing, like eating chocolate. Kevin flipped his hair out of his eyes and laughed a bit more. “I’m actually a retail worker.” Kevin corrected. Jamie shook his head. Why was Kevin saying something like that? It wasn’t like it was going to make Jamie like him better.

“Right.” Jamie repeated in the same, sarcastic tone. This time Kevin didn’t laugh. He watched the ground below his feet travel at a slow pace. Each crack he stepped over, each piece of gum stuck to the pavement, each pile of sand. It was a moment before he finally spoke again and when he did it wasn’t with the same narcissistic tone he usually took.

“Really, I work at the Walmart.” Jamie was shocked for a moment. He was so sincere, but he was still afraid he didn’t believe him. Instead of responding he simply remained on the path he was walking and didn’t say a word. Kevin didn’t push the issue but instead brought up a new subject. 

“You don’t go to parties a lot, do you? I’ve never seen you at any of the raves I attend.” Kevin said casually, recalling the night he had met Jamie. It had almost been magical. An entirely new face he hadn’t flirted with. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Of course he had to be interrupted by those obsessed kids, but something about Jamie drew him in and he had spent the entire previous day hoping to get to see him again.

“Yeah, no, I prefer sitting at home watching movies.” Jamie responded, kind of enjoying the general conversation topic. It wasn’t too heavy handed on his past but it was about him and not Kevin. This seemed to be more natural of a conversation than Jamie expected from Kevin.

“I love going to the raves. I can dance all I want.” Kevin made a happy face at the thought of this and Jamie laughed a little. He looked more human than before. He enjoyed doing something that didn’t include harassing helpless, innocent people. 

“How long have you been dancing?” Jamie asked, deciding it was best to contribute to the conversation in some way. Plus, Kevin seemed very into his dancing and Jamie wanted to know why that was.

“Since I was twelve. It’s only been ten years, but it’s something only I understand and I can express myself. I feel alive when I dance.” He responded and Jamie noticed layers peeling away, revealing deeper parts of Kevin. Had anyone seen this far into him? It was beautiful to watch, but Jamie remained wary.

“What made you decide to start dancing?” Twelve was such a late age to decide a lifelong passion. Some people discovered their passions later in life, but Jamie had known his the first time he watched a Jane Austen movie. That had been when he was six. Something about the dramatic air with which they acted and swooned and wooed it was just beautiful and detailed and awe inspiring.

“My brother suggested I try it.” Kevin responded and Jamie realized he had been too lost in thought to notice the joy had been wiped straight off of Kevin’s face. Instead he looked toward the ground again and his shoulders had slumped. He looked less enthusiastic than he had been a moment ago. And it had something to do with his brother.

Jamie was about to ask something when Kevin looked up at the sky again and asked a question.

“Have you had lunch yet?” It was a change of subject and Jamie could tell he wanted it to remain that way. So he didn’t pry and instead responded.

“No. I was on the way back to the post office for some last minute deliveries and lunch.” Jamie said, pointing in the vague direction they had been heading. They were actually much closer than Jamie had realized and he was almost a little disappointed they were almost back. Still, he had a lot of letters to deliver after lunch and his stomach was grumbling loudly at him.

“Can I join you?” It was an honest question and for a moment, Jamie was ready to answer rather instantly in agreement. Who didn’t want company for lunch? But then he realized that all Kevin wanted to do was hit on Jamie and, if they ate lunch together, he could tease freely and endlessly that they were on a date.

“No, I think I’m fine on my own. I have deliveries to finish after lunch anyway.” Jamie responded and Kevin heaved a sighed, rolling his head backward toward the sun. Jamie was relieved, he didn’t appear to be ready to protest. But his face soon rolled back into position where his dark eyes could look Jamie straight in the face.

“C’mon, it’s not like it’s going to be a date or anything.” Kevin insisted with a sly smile slithering across his face. It was an attractive look, but at the same time completely unattractive. Part of Jamie wanted to say yes, Kevin was acting really cool today. But another part of him really didn’t want to say yes, Kevin was still the jerk that was trying to hit on him for reasons Jamie was unaware of.

“I don’t know, Kevin, I always eat lunch on the office with the other mailmen and women.” This was mostly an excuse to get Kevin off his back. Jamie was the youngest mailman of the gang, though not by much. The majority of them were middle aged men and women and generally not the kind of people Kevin would hang out with.

“Then we can go somewhere else. My treat.” Kevin said, straightening himself out and throwing his arms out to add dramatic flair to his words. At this Jamie narrowed his eyes before rolling them and turning off the beach walk and down the road toward the post office. Kevin scrambled to keep up, unaware of the location of Jamie’s employment. 

“Isn’t that a date?” Jamie asked with an irritated tone of voice. Kevin had just insisted that their eating lunch together wouldn’t be like a date, but then he offered to eat somewhere else and pay for it. That was definitely the definition of a date, as far as Jamie was aware. Not that he had been on a date, but he had watched enough romance movies to know how a date worked. Granted, they also tended to end up at the movies, but that was when couples went on dinner dates. 

“What? Oh, no, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. We can do it as friends, ya know?” Kevin tried to explain it and Jamie could tell he was trying to be sincere by the way he spoke. But Jamie wasn’t sure about the whole thing and the way he had flustered Kevin thrilled him. He had Kevin sitting on the edge of his seat. It was his turn to play around.

“But you said ‘my treat.’ Doesn’t that mean you’re paying? And, when one person pays for both, doesn’t it make it a date?” Jamie asked, trying to make his voice sound clever and sly like Kevin’s often did. He was throwing the taller boy off, but there was a slightly joking hint to his voice and he was afraid Kevin would catch on. 

“Sometimes friends pay for their friends meals.” Kevin explained as they approached the post office door. He jumped out in front of Jamie and opened the door for him. Jamie froze in place and gave him a shocked and embarrassed looked. Rolling his eyes he walked in.

“Yeah, but that’s harder to believe when you’ve been hitting on me since the moment we met.” Jamie responded, unaware that he was the last mailman to show up for lunch. He had been speaking over his shoulder and walking toward the break room by foot memory when he turned to find the entire mail crew watching him with wide eyes. Jamie instantly turned red.

“Then try not to think of it too hard.” Kevin insisted, walking up right behind him to the audience of mailmen and women. His worried look turned to one of pure joy as he realized what had just happened. 

“Hey! Jamie’s been telling me all about you guys! I’m Kevin, we met the other night at a party.” Kevin walked right up to the first person he saw – pushing past Jamie who was still frozen in the doorway – and offered his hand for them to shake. It was Barbara.

She was the first to snap out of her eavesdropping face and took Kevin’s hand to shake. She gave Jamie a meaningful glance that told him they were going to be talking a lot later before turning back to Kevin.

“I’m Barbara Miller, the head mailwoman here. It’s nice to meet a friend of Jamie’s.” Jamie could tell she was refraining from emphasizing the word friend for Jamie’s sake, but a part of her wanted to insist to Kevin that Jamie was only his friend. Either Kevin didn’t catch this, or he played along with it.

“It’s nice to meet you too!” Kevin said with the most agreeable look Jamie had ever seen on his face. He was being nicer than Jamie had ever seen him be and it was almost cringe worthy. But it was also kind of funny and really entertaining. 

“What brings you to the office?” Barbara asked, snapping a look to Jamie to get his attention. He realized she wanted him to answer her honestly instead of getting the answer from Kevin. There was a likely chance she had had a run in with Kevin before. Jamie hadn’t thought about that. Stepping forward he opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Kevin.

“We ran into each other while Jamie was finishing his deliveries. We’re going out to lunch together.” Kevin grinned from ear to ear and moved to throw an arm around Jamie. Something clicked in his mind as he did this and instead he gave him an awkward punch on the shoulder that wasn’t really strong enough to hurt. What was that all about? Jamie had been pretty sure it was a very Kevin move to do the arm around the shoulders gag.

“Kevin, I never agreed to that.” Jamie said weakly and realized that no one had heard him speak. Apparently he was a mouse in a room full of dogs. They kept barking at each other while he couldn’t even get a single peep out.

“Alright, well, don’t take too long. There are a couple of extra deliveries in the distribution room, Jamie, if you can grab those to do on your way out.” Barbara instructed and Jamie nodded, defeated about having to go to lunch with Kevin. It wouldn’t be pure torture, he assumed, since Kevin had been pretty nice to him this whole time. He was even refraining from referring to or referencing his crush on Jamie. It must have been taking a lot of effort.

“It was nice to meet you.” Kevin called behind him as he followed Jamie out of the room. Together they walked to the distribution room in silence. Kevin was taking in the office with awe, but he was behind Kevin and the smaller boy couldn’t see this look of wonder. The distribution room wasn’t very far from the break room and Jamie was in and out within seconds. The letters Barbara had been talking about could be found without a problem on a table in the corner of the room. There wasn’t much else except the letters to be sorted the next day.

Jamie found Kevin talking to someone at a computer in the main room, who seemed genuinely interested in the conversation. Something inside of Jamie tugged at seeing Kevin’s enthusiastic smile about whatever it was they were talking about. The latino man paused to watch Kevin talk for a few seconds before he realized what he was doing. 

Quickly he rushed forward and tugged Kevin’s arm.

“C’mon, we should be going.” He said, hoping to get Kevin away quickly before the person at the computer could pester him about hanging out with Kevin. Their pestering would have been completely different from Barbara’s, but it would still be pestering.

“Alright. Hey, it was nice talking to you.” Kevin called behind his back to the person he had been talking to, who responded with something Jamie didn’t catch. They were out the door rather quickly and the bitter November wind whipped them in the face instantly. Jamie had forgotten how cold it was outside. 

“Are you cold?” Kevin had shown up out of nowhere behind him and made Jamie jump. Obviously he hadn’t shown up out of nowhere, he had been there the entire time. But Jamie had forgotten in that split second that he had been there and had been startled by the sound of his voice so close.

“No, I’m fine.” He lied, heading out along the sidewalk. He had no idea where he was going, just that it was in the general direction of the boardwalk toward the restaurants. Kevin was going to be paying, so it was a date. Kevin may have insisted it wasn’t, but Jamie kept thinking of it as a date and was hitting himself for letting this happen. 

“You know, if you are, we can dance for a little.” Kevin suggested, rubbing shoulders with Jamie as they walked. Intentionally, Jamie stepped away a little bit and began to blush just thinking about dancing with Kevin. It was warming him up already and he realized Kevin was right, if they danced he was be flustered and blushing and red and very, very warm.

“No, I’m good.” Jamie responded, hoping he had made his point. Apparently he hadn’t made his point well enough because Kevin grabbed one of his hands in his and used the other to press their bodies firmly together. The warmth enveloped Jamie almost instantly and he enjoyed the feeling against the cold, but Kevin was flustering him too much.

“C’mon, baby. How ‘bout we have a little dance together?” Kevin asked and Jamie realized he had broken his calm, relaxed, held back Kevin air and had given into his flirty normal self. Jamie was mad that Kevin hadn’t lasted very long but at the same time enjoyed the warmth he was giving him. Still, he would have preferred to not be pressed so close to Kevin.

“K-Kevin, n-n-no! I’m more of an a-actor than a dancer anyway.” He stuttered against his nerves, feeling himself heat up even more because of the words Kevin was saying. This was the party all over again, but this time he didn’t have Stevonnie to save him. Jamie felt himself getting dizzy, probably from the rush of blood to his face. It was very uncomfortable.

“Well, then. I’ll just have to give you private lessons.” Kevin was in full on Kevin mode and it was both frightening and very attractive. Jamie didn’t know how to respond to Kevin coming onto him so heavily. One second he had been fine with just chatting, but the next he couldn’t hold himself back. What had changed?

“K-Kevin! Oh my gosh, stop! I’m getting really hot.” Jamie complained and Kevin himself began to turn red at this. It was hard to see under his dark skin, but the taller boy was indeed blushing. 

“Heh, that was very dirty, Jamie.” Kevin laughed nervously and Jamie turned even more red. Kevin knew exactly how to throw him off. But this time, instead of protesting against Kevin, he felt himself get woozy and dizzy and instead rested his forehead against Kevin’s shoulder. The other boy froze.

For a few minutes they stood like this, alone on the sidewalk. Kevin held Jamie’s hand, which had slumped slightly to allow him to relax his muscles, and his back, pulling his ever warming body close. It was like holding a hot water bottle. It felt really good against the cold, but there wasn’t something quite right about it and how Jamie had just relaxed against him. No matter how much he was enjoying this, it concerned him.

“Jamie, are you alright?” He asked, and there was a small grunt against his shoulder. Warmth in the same of a small circle hit his shoulder and Kevin guessed that Jamie’s mouth was right there. Any other time Kevin would have gotten really excited to have someone close enough to feel the warmth of their breath.

“Yeah, just really dizzy.” He responded quietly, shifting his face slightly so his voice would carry to Kevin’s ear. The heat coming from his mouth was extremely hot and smelled rather odd. Kevin recognized the smell.

Pushing Jamie back – oh how he wanted to keep him close – he rested a hand against Jamie’s forehead and then against his neck. He was burning hot.

“Jamie, you’ve got a fever.” He pointed out and Jamie shook his head as if insisting he was just fine before even saying anything.

“No, no. I got over my cold. Barbara set me up yesterday and I felt fine this morning.” Jamie insisted. Kevin’s eyes widened. He had had this cold yesterday? It was silly of Jamie to think he had gotten over it in one day, but yesterday had been the day after the party. He would have caught it sometime at the party.

“You’re so stupid. You caught this because of what you wore to the party, didn’t you?” Kevin asked and Jamie growled as if he were a dog and Kevin were fighting him. This little action almost made Kevin laugh, it was so cute. 

“Barbara said the same thing. Then she threw them out.” Jamie explained and then rubbed his face back into Kevin’s shoulder. “Ugh, why do I feel like crap?” He whined, grabbing Kevin’s back and pulling him in for a tight hug. Kevin gasped at this action. It wasn’t a Jamie action and Kevin knew that he was only doing his because he was sick. He was going to have to forget it ever happened.

“Because you’re sick. Now tell me where you live so I can bring you home.” Kevin commanded, expecting to get a garbled, yet accurate answer. But there was only silence and the sound of Jamie’s breath in his ear. “Jamie?” Kevin whispered, hoping to get his friends attention, wake him up, get him to tell him where to take him. But there wasn’t a response.

“Guess we’re going to my house, then.” Kevin resolved, scooping Jamie up into his arms with ease and heading to where he had parked his car along the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Meeting Kevin's family.


	4. Bad Topic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie wakes up to find himself floating on clouds and living the dream. Oh, wait, he's just in Kevin's house. Wait, he's in Kevin's house!? A.K.A The story of how Jamie met Kevin's parents and learned Kevin has a big of an angsty past. But what makes it angsty?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaa! Sick Jamie gets to live the life for a day he wasn't even awake most of to experience.

The world floated on clouds, Jamie thought. There couldn’t be a better explanation for the light sensation coursing through his body at that moment. He was lying on a cloud, deep in sleep, flying thousands of feet through the air with no care in the world. Who needed to be awake? Sleep was so much better than being awake. He liked this sleep. It was so peaceful.

THUD!

Jamie started, realizing he was asleep on a very, very comfortable bed and not on clouds. The blankets were gathered around his chin and the fluffy pillows almost consumed his head. Instantly he felt congestion in his nose and a lightheaded feeling that told him he was still sick. It wasn’t as bad as it had been when he had been with Kevin, but it was still bad.

Wait a second, he had been with Kevin last.

Opening his eyes he looked directly above himself to the deep, velvety red canopy above him. There were curtains around the bed but they were drawn back at the corners. The blankets were soft and light as feathers, but thick enough to trap the warmth Jamie needed. They were a clean white color and by far the nicest thing Jamie had ever seen. Turning his head slightly he realized he was laying between two red pillows and his head was resting on a single, long white one behind them.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” The voice was deep and masculine and completely unfamiliar. About as unfamiliar as the room he was in. He figured whoever it was had been placed there to explain everything to him when he woke up. But Jamie wasn’t really confused in the desperate to know what’s going sort of way, but simply in the curious about his surroundings sort of way.

Pushing himself into a seated position he observed the room around him and found it was about the size of his apartment. He was probably exaggerating since he had never seen the room with all the walls removed, but it sure was large. There were bookshelves on one wall, a large window with drawn red curtains on the other wall, a computer on the third wall, and a man sitting in a chair with a book in his hand next to the bed.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to wake you.” He said, straightening himself out and looking over at Jamie as if half suspicious and half apologetic. He was a large man, Jamie could tell just by a glance. He wore a thick sweater and black slacks. Despite the big clothes his broad shoulders and long legs were clearly showing. He had dark brown skin and thick brown hair. His eyes were such a dark brown they looked black and almost merged with the pupils in his eyes.

He looked a lot like Kevin, but darker and wider.

“It’s alright, I think I should be getting up anyway.” Jamie said softly, realizing how quiet he sounded in this room, with this man. Again he took a look around and then turned back to the man. “Where am I?” He asked, curious to know where he was.

“You’re in my house. Kevin brought you here saying you had a very high temperature.” The man responded, setting the book he had been holding on the desk behind him where the chair must have belonged. His house. Alright, but why this house? Kevin had brought him there for a reason.

“Where is Kevin?” If he had been the one to bring Jamie here, then he had to be around there somewhere. Kevin wouldn’t have just left Jamie in the care of a stranger. He seemed to like him too much. Just thinking about this made him heat up and he averted his gaze from the man at the desk, pretending to be more interested in the room.

“He’s at work right now, but he trusted us to tell you everything when you woke up.” He responded, uncrossing the legs Jamie hadn’t even noticed had been crossed. All that had been on his mind were how long they were.

“’Us’?” Jamie asked, looking back at the man with a curious look on his face. 

“My wife and I. I think she’s making soup. Do you have the strength to walk to the kitchen?” At this the man stood, reaching his full height, which was nearly as tall as the canopy above Jamie. Looking straight ahead of himself, Jamie thought about it. Did he want to follow this strange man? Soup sounded really nice and he didn’t feel as bad as he had earlier.

“Yeah, I think I can manage.” Jamie replied and the man grinned. Throwing the blankets off of his legs Jamie realized that he was wearing a pair of black sweat pants and a big, maroon sweater. It was as if he was wearing his old one, but he felt hot in this one and he realized that was because it was newer and much thicker.

“Whose are these?” He asked, sliding toward the edge of the bed and lifting his sleeves to indicate the clothes. The man turned around to look at what he was talking about. 

“They’re Kevin’s. Julie insisted he put you in something warmer to keep you from getting too cold.” So he knew one name already. Julie. And that Kevin had undressed him to get him into these clothes. This thought made Jamie blush again and he tried to focus his energy on getting up instead. As he placed a hand on the bedside table to help himself get up he realized there was something sitting next to the lamp.

It was a white beanie.

As the man left the room, Jamie grabbed the beanie and put it on, figuring he could use the ‘keeping warm’ excuse if anyone asked. 

Stepping out of the room Jamie froze in place. They were on the top floor of a large house he would have called a mansion. They faced toward several large windows that reached from the bottom floor to the ceiling. Directly ahead of him was a massive chandelier. He stood on an indoor balcony that had two reaching staircases on either side of it, arching around toward the lower floor as if gently setting something down.

“Come, Jamie, we mustn’t keep the soup waiting.” Called the man and Jamie realized he was already halfway down the left staircase. As he hurried his fastest to catch up he realized the man had said his name.

“I don’t know your name.” He blurted tactlessly. He was off to a fine start with this man, but the man didn’t seem to care. Jamie began down the stairs at a slower pace and, as the man answered, the pictures on the wall beside him caught his eye.

“Apologies. My name is Lewis Hoapili. Do you like that one? We were in Italy on family vacation.” He said these words in a single statement with such ease. Jamie had already figured they were rich, but seeing the large family portrait of four people on the streets of Venice was something else. 

“That’s Kevin.” Jamie muttered absently as he noticed the taller of the two boys looked like a smaller version of the flirt Jamie had met only a few days ago. The smaller boy looked more like the Asian woman behind him, but the smile on his face and the glint in his eyes was the same one the younger Kevin had.

“Yup. Him and Kyle loved Italy, though nothing can top Hawaii.” Lewis replied as if Jamie had asked a question. Kyle. That must have been his brother. Kevin had mentioned something about a brother earlier when Jamie had asked why he had started dancing. 

Slowly the smaller man walked down the stairs behind Lewis. Kevin’s father allowed him to look over the pictures in detail as they walked and Jamie stopped again at a smaller picture with a tiny boy holding up a baby, both had large grins on their faces. Instantly Jamie knew who they were.

Small Kevin had a mess of short hair that looked as if he had just woken up. His small eyes were squeezed shut and his mouth formed a big, toothy grin with a few missing teeth. He held a baby Kyle under the arms, pulled right up against his chest so that his small hands crossed in front of his brother’s stomach. Little Kyle grinned as well, open mouthed and open eyed, wearing a Stitch one-sy. Kevin had on a red Hawaiian print tourist shirt with big white flowers, a leafy crown with matching bracelets, and blue jeans.

“That was Halloween when Kevin was four and Kyle was one. Kevin insisted on being Lilo and Stitch.” Mr. Hoapili explained, noticing Jamie had far more interest in this photo than the others. It was adorable, Jamie thought, looking the photo over to catch any detail he could possibly have missed.

“How old are they in that one?” Jamie asked, turning to look at Lewis while pointing back toward the Italy photo. 

“Kevin’s fifteen and Kyles twelve.” He answered and Jamie nodded, thinking this over. So they were three years apart. Jamie hadn’t ever asked Kevin how old he was, so he wasn’t sure how old Kyle would be. That meant he could have been in school or at home or anywhere, really, so he didn’t ask about his whereabouts.

“This one’s more recent.” Mr. Hoapili informed him, pointing at one near the bottom of the stairs. Jamie walked toward him to see the happy, smiling family, Kevin’s arm around Kyle’s shoulders. Kyle was wearing a cap and gown and proudly holding a diploma folder with several candy leis around his neck. 

“It’s Kyle’s graduation, two years ago. This was taken just before-“ He wasn’t allowed to continue his sentence because a voice shouted from a room somewhere behind the stairs on the lower level.

“Lewis! The soup is ready! Go get Jamie and get down here!” It was clearly a woman, so Jamie assumed it was Julie, the woman in the photographs. Lewis looked up at Jamie apologetically, but he shrugged. It was alright by him if they didn’t get to finish this reminiscing, he could ask later.

The two of them walked down the last couple of stairs and Lewis lead Jamie the rest of the way to the kitchen. It was a large space, made to do what it was built for with updated appliances and lots of counter space. A small woman stood at the stove on a stool to be able to see into the large pot she was working with.

“Ah! There you two are! Jamie, it’s so nice to meet you while you’re awake.” Julie Hoapili jumped off her stool and shook Jamie’s hand vigorously. She was much shorter than him and Mr. Hoapili and it was almost amusing how small she was. It explained why Kevin wasn’t nearly as tall as his father.

“It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for letting me stay here.” Jamie said as the small woman ushered him to a small table with four chairs near a window on the far side of the room. He took a seat while she prepared bowls for the three of them.

“Not at all! Kevin was startled that you just collapsed on him and he didn’t know where else to bring you. He must really care about you.” Julie said as she kicked her stool toward a particular cabinet before walking to the top of it and opening it to grab out the bowls before getting off and grabbing some spoons. Mr. Hoapili grabbed a ladle and assisted his wife with dishing out the soup.

“Nah, it’s nothing like that. We’re just…just friends.” Jamie responded, hesitating when he realized he was kind of Kevin’s friend. He hadn’t even know Kevin that long, but so far they had had a much more in depth conversation than Jamie was used to having with someone and Kevin had carried him to his house because he had collapsed due to fatigue.

“No, really. We never meet any of Kevin’s friends. You must be really special.” Julie said, grabbing the first bowl as Lewis dished it and walking it over to Jamie who took it and thanked her quietly, red in the face the whole time. 

“I don’t know. I haven’t known him very long.” Admitted Jamie, looking down at the soup sheepishly, wondering what soup they had made as he realized he was far deeper into Kevin’s life than he had ever been into anyone’s. And he was sure he was just scratching the surface.

“That’s just how Kevin works.” Lewis explained, taking the other two bowls in each hand – he had really big hands – and setting them on the table before sitting down next to his wife. 

“He should be home soon, anyway. You can get to know him better.” Mrs. Hoapili said, taking a spoonful of soup and blowing on it before eating it off the spoon. That thought struck Jamie again. Kevin worked.

“Why does he work? You guys seem really well off.” Jamie froze as he realized they might get offended at his comment. Did they do things differently? Was it normal for rich families to make their kids find their way in the world on their own? Maybe it was an honor thing.

“Kevin insists on working.” Julie responded with a shrug, but the look on her face said it was more than simply an indifferent shrug. Lewis looked down into the bowl as if something about it made him not want to eat. Then he looked up at Jamie.

“He insists on paying for part of Kyle’s care.” Mr. Hoapili said and Jamie felt himself freeze over. Care? The man made it sound as if the youngest Hoapili was sick and needed money to pay for his cure.

“Care?” Jamie voiced this question several minutes after Lewis had said anything and the big man looked down at his wife as if consulting her for the right answer. Julie looked back up at Jamie when their eyes had reached a conclusion.

“He hasn’t told you? Well, you haven’t known each other very long.” Julie said, her tone a thinking one. She was about to open her mouth and say more when the sound of a door opening interrupted the thought process.

“I’m home!” It was a cheery, happy sounding Kevin. His footsteps rang out lightly against the solid floor and there were thumping sounds as if he was bounding up the stairs. Probably skipping over some while he went.

“Kevin, we’re down here!” Julie called. There was no immediate response from the man and it was a few moments before the sounds of footsteps started again and Kevin appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, a big grin on his face.

“I didn’t know you meant you had Jamie with you.” He said as he noticed the soup pot and the fact that they were eating. “Starting dinner without me?” He asked, reaching for the cupboard with the bowls before ladling himself some soup and grabbing a spoon, shutting the drawer with a swing of his hips. 

“You were home later than we expected and Jamie looks like he needs something to eat.” Julie responded as Kevin took a seat next to Jamie. Part of Jamie felt self conscious, having Kevin next to him, wearing Kevin’s clothes. But why should he? Kevin was just being a nice friend.

“What’s with the beanie?” Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow at Jamie’s fashion choice and Jamie suddenly recalled that he was wearing it. Slowly he turned a slight shade of pink before taking a sip of his soup.

“I was cold.” He responded, sticking to the excuse he had originally planned on. Kevin nodded, but the look on his face suggested he didn’t fully believe the other man.

“Right. You still have my other one, don’t you?” Kevin asked, blowing on the soup hard before beginning to gulp it down. For a moment Jamie forgot Kevin had asked anything and stared in awe as the taller man chugged the soup as if it wasn’t scalding hot.

“Um, yeah. Back at my apartment.” Jamie responded after a delayed moment and Kevin nodded in understanding. The whole exchange was watched carefully by the Hoapili parents, who both looked like gossip girls from high school, watching their son interact with Jamie. 

“Then we’ll have to stop by your house to get it back.” Kevin said as he finished his soup. With that he stood with a flourish, taking the bowl to the sink and heading toward the doorway. Turning as he reached it he looked back to Jamie.

“Hurry up, slow poke.” Kevin called as he swung himself from the room and the sounds of his footsteps disappeared up the stairs. Jamie sat, shocked, in place, staring at the door where Kevin had exited. The event had been no more than five or ten minutes. Kevin had come in and out and had managed to successfully knock all the breath out of Jamie’s lungs as if he had been hit in the chest. 

“Well, you should probably finish up, Jamie. It sure was nice having you. Come again sometime!” Julie said, grabbing her bowl, which Jamie now noticed was empty, and heading toward the sink. Lewis saluted him and did the same and soon Jamie was alone in the quiet, empty kitchen of the Hoapili household. 

They swept him away.

Jamie headed up the stairs when he finally had a hold of himself and finished the soup. He found Kevin sitting on the bed, texting someone with rapid pace typing. Jamie had never seen anyone type that fast on a phone. 

“Oh, hey, there you are. One second.” Kevin said, his cheerful demeanor still about him as he quickly finished up whatever he had been typing. Jamie made a confused look and stopped where he was in the door. When Kevin finally finished typing and looked up, his face imitated Jamie’s. “What?”

Shaken from his shocked state by Kevin’s words, Jamie took another step into the room and then stopped again. 

“I’m really confused. Who are you? Where did that stupid jerk from the other night go? You know, the cool, relaxed one that didn’t care a single bit about what everyone thought of him.” Jamie rambled a bit long, but he felt good when the words had lifted off his chest. Kevin flinched slightly at the comment about him being a jerk, but Jamie didn’t take back what he said.

“I’m the same person, Jamie.” Kevin responded, getting up off the bed before tucking his phone into his back pocket and stepping closer to Jamie. After a few steps Jamie realized he was headed for the door and turned to let him pass.

“No you’re not. You’re so much more fun. Like a whirlwind. One second you’re there, the next you’re gone and everyone in the room is left with a pleasant feeling, as if they had just chewed some mint gum.” Jamie said, following behind Kevin as they left the room and headed toward the stairs.

“I don’t like people seeing that side of me.” Kevin responded, his happy demeanor diminishing a bit. Jamie didn’t notice, he was too focused on getting answers.

“Why? That side of you is so much cooler.” Jamie said and Kevin froze. Jamie nearly ran into his back when he did this but managed to stop in time. Confused, he looked over Kevin’s shoulder as if he might see something. He didn’t catch a glimpse of Kevin’s face but he did spot the first picture at the top of the stairs and his eyes caught on Kyle.

“And what about your brother? Your parents were saying-“ Jamie was unable to finish this statement because Kevin had turned around and was giving him a horrifying look Jamie had never seen before. He looked ready to kill.

“Don’t talk about Kyle.” Kevin warned before turning around and heading back toward the stairs. Jamie stayed at the top of the stairs, stunned. There was a third side of Kevin. Something was protective about the way he had said those words, but Jamie didn’t know what and there was no way of knowing what bothered Kevin.

It reminded him of his sister.

After a few seconds Jamie caught up to himself and began trotting down the stairs, walking and moving better after the soup and the lively chatter. He didn’t feel as bad, but he knew better than to think he was completely better. 

Instead, he followed Kevin toward the garage where Kevin got into his car, not even bothering to pay Jamie any attention. Jamie, disgruntled, got into the car and Kevin started it up. With a satisfying roar the two pulled out and headed down the road closer to Beach City. After a few minutes Kevin had to ask directions, but neither said anything else.

When they finally pulled up to the apartment complex, Kevin got out of the car with Jamie. They walked up the stairs to Jamie’s apartment and Jamie let them in, watching as Kevin looked around, curious.

“Uh, you’re parents are really cool.” Jamie started, hoping to at least get words out of Kevin rather than the bitter silence that reflected the weather outside.

“Yeah. They’re awesome. They’re much more accepting of me than most.” Kevin said, the words confusing Jamie. Kevin didn’t turn around and Jamie didn’t say anything, but Kevin seemed to understand there was confusion. “I know, it could be just because they’re my parents. But some parents kick their kids out of the house when they find out they’re gay. Well, in my case, bi.” Kevin turned around at this point and looked Jamie over from head to toe.

“What about your parents? What do they think about you being gay?” Kevin asked, tilting his head in curiosity. When Jamie’s face turned bright red he raised an eyebrow. “Or bi.” He added, as if that made it better.

“I am perfectly straight, thank you.” Jamie protested, pushing passed Kevin to his bedroom, wary of the fact that Kevin followed behind him. 

“Right, says the guy with the romance movie collection.” Kevin pointed out sarcastically. Jamie huffed.

“It is perfectly alright for a guy to like romance movies.” He insisted and, though he couldn’t see it, Kevin rolled his eyes. 

“Sure.” Kevin said as he stopped in Jamie’s doorway. With an angry huff Jamie grabbed the beanie from the other night and hucked it at Kevin. It didn’t do any damage or make Jamie feel any better.

“Here’s your hat back.” He spat, and then threw the other one hissing something similar. Then he remembered that he was wearing Kevin’s clothes. Flushing a darker shade of red he pushed at Kevin. “Leave the room while I change so I can give you the clothes back.” 

“No, no. Keep them. It’ll give us a reason to see each other again.” Kevin said, backing out of the room voluntarily and Jamie gaped like a gasping fish. 

“Wh-what? N-no! Take them back.” He insisted, following Kevin down the hall and trying to stop him. All Kevin did was chuckle and wave him off.

“You don’t want to see me again, baby? How rude.” With that he left through the door, turning around before heading down the stairs. “You can take your clothes off for me some other time.” Was the last thing he said before giving Jamie a small peck on the cheek and closing the door.

Jamie stood before his apartment door for hours before finally taking the energy to crawl into bed and die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the angst. Next chapter will be a bit of a filler and then we'll get into truly good stuff.


	5. Bad Timing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie avoids Kevin for a week before running into him in a very unexpected location. When Kevin invites himself along for the rest of Jamie's route, he unexpectedly joins the Cordero's for Thanksgiving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in three hours. It's been months since I've done anything like this. Saying that, please excuse any mistakes and enjoy!

It had been a week. 

Jamie wasn’t sure if Kevin still liked him because, even after a week, he hadn’t heard from the cool kid since he had dropped him off after letting him stay at his place. The weather had gotten colder and a little windier and Jamie continued to – begrudgingly – wear Kevin’s sweater and sweatpants around his apartment due to the lack of heat in the small abode. 

Part of Jamie was glad he hadn’t seen Kevin since that day. The other man had been a little off putting and distant near the end of their time together. He just didn’t seem to want to answer any of Jamie’s questions and he just felt left out.

So, within a week of not seeing Kevin, Jamie was more relaxed then he had ever felt before. 

The bitter winter wind blew gently that morning as Jamie the mailman trudged along the sandy shores of Beach City toward the temple where Steven lived. He had on his back a rather large bag of stuff because Steven had mass purchased something again and it had all come at once. Jamie, being the only one who knew where Steven lived other than Barbara, was tasked with carrying it all to the little Universe and then taking the rest of the mail to the respective recipient. 

Breathing heavily at the exertion required to tote such a large bag, Jamie focused his mind on the sound of the ocean waves crashing lightly along the shore. His breath came out in puffs, hitting his face as he walked into it and then dispersing into the air. He wore a thick scarf that Barbara insisted he borrow and had gotten himself a long sleeve version of the mail shirt with a nice, new pair of khaki pants he had decided to splurge on. It still wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t freezing.

“Jamie!” The shout came from ahead of him and Jamie snapped from his focus on the sounds around him to the small boy running in his direction. The small Universe was dressed much warmer than Jamie in a big, puffy red jacket with a thick white scarf and pants that looked thicker than normal pants. He trailed the tail end of his scarf behind him but didn’t seem to notice as he approached Jamie with enthusiasm.

“Hey, Steven. I got some-“ Jamie grunted as he swung the bag over his shoulder “-packages for you.” As the bag hit the sand, Steven practically attacked it, opening the top and digging inside to grab the first one on top. 

“Sweet! My lifetime supply of hamburger scented air fresheners is here!” Jamie furrowed his brow as he watched Steven open one of the boxes and take a big whiff. He sighed contentedly as he did so and then looked back up at Jamie. “Thanks, Jamie!” 

“Eh, it’s no problem. Just doing my job.” Jamie said with an indifferent shrug as Steven took out one of the hamburger shaped objects, a small string hanging from the top of it to allow for easy decorating on the mirror of a car. It reminded Jamie of the ones his mom used to hang on the mirror of their family car when they were little. His sister always loved taking them off and rubbing them all over Jamie, telling him he needed to smell better as he tried to push her off of him.

“Jamie, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?” The question shook Jamie out of his sudden trip down memory lane. Thanksgiving was in three days and, for once, Jamie wasn’t staying alone in his apartment for the big feast.

“Ah, I was going to go home and join my family for Thanksgiving.” It had been a couple of years since he had had Thanksgiving with his family. He always visited for Christmas and occasionally went down for fun but he rarely joined them for turkey day.

“That’s so cool! The gems and I are going to make our own Thanksgiving.” Steven explained with a big grin on his face. Jamie knew that this meant something completely different from traditional Thanksgiving feasts, so he smiled along.

“That sounds fun.” He said with a laugh and Steven readily agreed, beginning a spiel about what exactly they had planned. Jamie spaced out again and began to wring his hands on the strap of his mail bag when he realized it was still heavy. 

“Oh, Steven, I have to finish dropping off the rest of these letters! I’m sorry.” Jamie apologized when he cut Steven off but the younger boy grinned and waved his hands at Jamie’s apology. 

“That’s alright, Jamie! Resume your duties! I have some air fresheners to hang up.” Steven said with a small salute as he grabbed the draw string of the bag with the boxes and began to trudge through the sand back to the temple. Jamie laughed as he went and waited until he was out of sight before heading back toward the sidewalk along the beach to deliver the rest of the letters.

As his shoes his pavement he slowed down, allowing the soft tapping of his heels against the concrete to sooth him into a rhythm. It was nice, being outside when there was no one else around. Jamie rarely got this chance, the naturally summery beach normally being packed with people running around and having fun. 

Walking with his face toward the ground he meandered toward the first house he had to drop off letters at. No one was outside so he slid the letters into the mailbox expertly and moved on. The tedious, empty activity of delivering letters distracted him for most of the day as he considered what he would need to bring to his family home, what about his family had changed since he had last seen them almost a year ago. 

This absentminded wandering lead him on a path before the old dance studio. It was normally rather empty, especially around the later winter months. It was rather abandoned looking in the winter. The building was used most commonly when kids were off for the summer and parents enrolled them in dance classes. Fall through spring still had classes but the building wasn’t well funded and didn’t have a proper heating system. Most kids who still took lessons later in the year were the dedicated kind and had died out in population.

Jamie wasn’t used to the bright light seeping from the blinds over the windows. 

It was a warm glow that threw itself across the pavement before the small building. With clouds in the sky above him, the day was much darker than usual and it caught Jamie’s attention as soon as he noticed it. Who could possibly be in there at this time of year? 

Approaching it cautiously, he heard the sound of sweet, slow music being played at an extremely high building. The thin walls and badly insolated windows allowed the music to play to anyone who passed by, and it further intrigued Jamie.

Slowly he reached one of the large windows and looked through the broken slats of one of the blinds. It was still difficult to see anything and all Jamie caught was the moving figure beyond gently gliding to the beautiful music. There was little visible movement beyond the blinds so Jamie slid sideways toward the door.

Warily he tested the handle and found it was unlocked. Carefully he opened it just enough to step inside and gently shut it behind him so the person inside wouldn’t see him.

Turning around he was faced with the elegant figure of Kevin Hoapili and a billion mirrors.

Despite the obvious mirrors and the fact that Jamie was behind him, Kevin didn’t seem to notice the entrance of his new favorite person. He twirled and spun to the music, lifting his arms and swinging his body to the invisible beat of the wonderful music. Jamie stood, transfixed, as his body moved so elegantly. He was slender, something Jamie hadn’t noticed under the layers of clothes Kevin normally wore.

He had a well defined dancers body with emphasis on his hips and feet. His arms knew how to open wide and swing out, offering a hand to hold or an embrace to take. As soon as he was done with most moves he would close this offering and left Jamie wishing he had taken his hand with each offer.

The music slowly faded out and then died entirely as Kevin’s dance came to a close. Jamie stood, awestruck at the beauty he had just witnessed, unaware that, now that the music was quiet, he couldn’t leave without being heard.

Also, Kevin had finally opened his eyes.

Whipping around he locked eyes with Jamie as soon as he realized the other man was there. For a second Jamie saw more surprise than anything but it worked quickly into a crooked grin and Jamie felt his face heat up, hoping it looked like it was red from the cold and not embarrassment. 

“Jamie! Long time see! What brings you here today, baby?” Kevin asked, crossing his arms over his chest and sauntering over to Jamie with those fierce hips swinging. Jamie didn’t respond immediately and found that his voice had decided to take a vacation.

Quickly he called it back and stuttered out a simple: “um, I h-heard music.” Kevin nodded at this as if he agree that Jamie was being honest about his answer. Inside, Kevin imagined it was because Jamie couldn’t take his eyes off of his body, which was true, unbeknownst to Jamie himself. 

“Right. Hey, why haven’t you called?” Kevin asked, stopping a mere foot away from Jamie, a little closer for comfort than Jamie was used to. His body was radiating warmth and Jamie could feel it from the distance away that he stood. Dark skin glistened with a light sprinkling of sweat and Jamie held back a nervous gulp. 

“Um, well, I don’t exactly have your number.” Jamie didn’t know why that was his choice of response when he should have actually told Kevin he didn’t want to call him. But there was a part of him that fought that idea off. Why would he want to call Kevin? He asked himself while his subconscious countered easily: why wouldn’t he?

“Yes you do. I put it into the pocket of my sweats before I put them on you last week.” Kevin spoke easily and pointedly, a gift that had been so graciously given him but not Jamie. The brunette burned a deeper shade of red at the memory that Kevin had undressed him while he had been asleep. Attempting to ignore this he nodded and looked away from Kevin.

“Ah, I hadn’t n-noticed.” Jamie commented, wringing his hands around the strap of his mailbag, not sure what to do next. For a solid minute they stood where they were, Jamie staring intently at the floor as if he could fix the crack in the wood he was looking at just by staring hard enough, Kevin looking at Jamie’s face as if he could draw the other man’s attention just by staring hard enough. 

“Right, well, I was just about to leave. Why don’t I walk you home, baby?” Kevin asked, taking yet another step closer to Jamie, causing the lighter skinned man to look up so fast he felt his neck twinge. Flinching at his unintentional harm of himself he shook his head adamantly, not wanting to spend more time with Kevin than was necessary.

“N-no, it’s alright. I have to finish delivering mail, anyway.” Jamie responded, taking a step back and absently reaching for the door’s handle without looking for it. Kevin raised an eyebrow and smirked. Turning he grabbed the small Bluetooth speaker from the floor and shoved it into a bag. As Jamie turned to find the door handle with his eyes, Kevin grabbed his jacket and a scarf and flung them both onto his body with fluid ease.

“I’ll just have to walk with you, then.” He said with a sly grin, popping the collar of his jacket so it blocked the wind from getting to his ears. Jamie opened the door, realizing that the small building was actually warmer inside than outside as wind smacked him in the face. 

“No, it’s alright! I’ll just-“ He was cut off when Kevin stepped right up in front of him, pressing his warm body against Jamie’s cold one. Despite the multiple layers of clothing between them, Jamie still felt his face heat up at the contact and he slipped clumsily out of the door to avoid any possible awkward Kevin conversation. 

“No, you won’t. What if you catch another cold? Who will be there to save you this time?” Kevin asked, following Jamie from the building, turning the lights off as he did, ignoring entirely the fact that Jamie was avidly avoiding him.

“I’m not going to catch another cold.” Jamie insisted stubbornly. Kevin shook his head and pulled up next to Jamie so that their shoulders were rubbing. It was a sensitive gesture. Kevin didn’t step in front of Jamie to fluster him or grab his hand like Jamie had almost expected was coming. Instead he stopped beside Jamie, facing the same direction.

“Where to first?” He asked quietly, looking down at Jamie with a kind look in his eyes. Flustered by this gesture, despite the innocent attempt by Kevin to not fluster Jamie, the shorter man, looked away and began to walk forward.

“Abuelita’s house.” Jamie muttered in response, hoping silently that Kevin wouldn’t follow him and that he would be allowed to continue the day as if he had never run into the other man.

“Your grandma lives in Beach City?” Refraining from sighing audibly at the fact that Kevin had followed him, Jamie shook his head. It was hard explaining this to every person he talked to, since none of them knew him well enough to know both his grandmothers had died years ago and neither had lived anywhere near Beach City.

“No, she’s an old Spanish woman that lives here.” Jamie responded, continuing down the sidewalk toward the house of the old woman he was talking about. Kevin nodded at this explanation but Jamie wasn’t looking to see this. Instead, he was focusing all his attention ahead of himself to avoid looking at Kevin. He wanted to pretend Kevin wasn’t there, but it was hard when Kevin instantly brought up a new subject when he realized Jamie was ready to drop that one. 

Each time Jamie responded with a short, stoic answer, Kevin came up with a new question to ask him. Jamie continued to act annoyed by the taller man, but was actually unaware as to why he was annoyed. Kevin was really nice and could be a good person when he wasn’t throwing pet names around or standing really close to him. But part of Jamie didn’t like that he had changed so easily.

“Jaime, you are later than usual.” Jamie arrived before abuelita’s fence with Kevin right next to him. The little old lady sat on her chair on the porch, thick blanket wrapped around her frail body. Jamie jogged quickly through the gate and up to the porch.

“Abuelita, get inside! It’s too cold out here for you to just sit on the porch.” Jamie insisted, grabbing her arm to help her up. She laughed and brushed if off, shuffling toward the door as Jamie directed. The entire time Kevin stood where he had been left, hand resting tentatively on the post of the fence at the hinge of the gate. 

“Do not worry, Jaime. I am fine. I was waiting for my mail, is all.” She said as Jamie opened the door and directed her inside. When she was over the threshold she turned to face him again and it was then that she noticed Kevin standing at the gate.

“Oh, you brought a friend with you today? How nice! Young man, what is your name?” Abuelita asked these questions, pushing firmly at Jamie’s chest to move him out of the way so she could get to Kevin. Jamie protested with the expressions on his face but knew that he wasn’t going to be able to stop her from saying hello to Kevin. 

Luckily, Kevin came and joined them before she reached the stairs off the porch. As they conversed, Jamie collected her mail in his hands so he could give it to her and send her inside with it when they were done.

“I’m Kevin. It’s nice to meet you.” Kevin said, resting a hand on the railing and stopping at the base of the stairs where abuelita could see him. She smiled and nodded.

“What a kind young man, Jaime. You should bring him around more often.” She commented, turning to look at Jamie as she said this. Jamie felt his face turn pink and hoped that it wasn’t noticeable to Kevin. 

“Ah, um, sure. Now, abuelita, get inside before you catch a cold. Here’s your mail.” Jamie said what she wanted to hear and ushered her inside, handing her the mail as he did so. She thanked him and leaned up to give him a little kiss on the cheek. Allowing her to do so he waited until she shut the door before turning around to find Kevin staring at him from the bottom of the stairs.

“You’ll bring me around again?” Kevin asked and Jamie realized Kevin had heard everything he had said to abuelita. Turning a shade of pink darker he looked down to the boards of wood that made up the porch before walking down the stairs to push passed Kevin and continue on his route.

“I just told her what she wanted to hear.” He muttered, tucking his chin into his scarf as he walked, hearing the clicking footsteps as Kevin jogged to catch up to him. There was a light smile on his lips, but Jamie furiously stared at the ground, avoiding looking at him as much as he could. He didn’t want to give Kevin the wrong idea.

“But you can’t break your promise to her now!” Kevin protested and Jamie could tell he was grinning just by the sound of his voice. Still, he adamantly looked away and didn’t respond. Kevin continued to pester him about abuelita the whole trip. They didn’t run into anyone else on Jamie’s route while they traveled it and Kevin continued to talk Jamie’s ear off about dancing, his family, and various fun facts about him. 

When they had finally finished the route, Jamie was so glad that he almost sighed in relief when he reached the post office.

“Alright, well, I’m done with work. You can go home now.” Jamie said, reaching for the handle and stopping where he was to look Kevin in the eye pointedly. Kevin’s expression was that of a confused puppy and Jamie couldn’t help but think how nice it looked on him. 

“Well, I can come home with you, right? I promised I would walk you home.” Kevin explained and Jamie froze in place with the door partially opened. He didn’t recall Kevin promising to walk him home, per se, but the fact that Kevin said he did was enough to keep the Polynesian-Asian on his case until he gave in.

With a defeated sigh he opened the office door and gestured for Kevin to enter. The other man grinned and walked through the door, giving Jamie a peck on the cheek as he did so. Turning a far brighter shade of red than he had ever been in his life, Jamie followed with his hand pressed against his cheek.

“I just have to put some stuff away and I’ll be done.” Jamie said, passing Kevin to reach the work room where several of the other mailmen of Beach City sat, brushing off the end of the day with a good talk with the colleagues. 

“Jamie! You’re later than usual.” Barbara chimed when he entered, turning her head around to look at him. When he didn’t say anything she creased her brow and stood. He put away his bag and began removing the scarf. She pressed her hands down on it, catching it between her hand and his shoulder.

“Keep it.” She insisted and Jamie finally looked her in the eyes. Her concerned look filled his view and he felt like he was going to melt from some kind of emotion he didn’t recognize. “Are you okay?” She asked and Jamie looked away to think about it. Kevin had just given him a kiss on the cheek. Was that something normal for Kevin? Probably. It definitely wasn’t normal for him, though, and it was throwing him off balance.

“I dunno.” Jamie responded honestly, looking her in the eyes. Barbara continued to look concerned but her look changed rather quickly to something else that resembled understanding or kindness. 

“Ah, I see. Alright. Well, have a great break, Jamie. We’ll be here waiting when you get back.” Barbara said, patting him on the shoulder firmly before letting him go. Jamie wasn’t sure what had just happened but seeing Barbara’s look relaxed him a bit and his mind moved on from the little kiss to going home for Thanksgiving.

“Thanks. I’ll see you in a few days.” Jamie said and Barbara and the others waved to him as he turned to leave the room.

Kevin was where he had left him, standing near the door, looking as if he was either bored out of his mind or interested in everything. Oddly, these were extremely similar expressions for Kevin. When Jamie approached him he turned and opened the door for him. Grunting a disgruntled thanks in Kevin’s direction Jamie slipped passed him, trying not to brush against Kevin in any way. 

As they walked down the street, Jamie tried to imagine finally going home instead of the fact that Kevin was walking next to him. That was really hard to do when Kevin started a conversation only moments after they left the office.

“So, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Kevin asked as they walked, hands in his pockets in the most relaxed manner imaginable. Jamie had no idea how he did it. Acting so cool in front of everyone and, yet, not being as cool as he made himself out to be. Jamie had a feeling he was the only one who had seen a different side of Kevin.

“I’m going home.” Jamie responded simply. Kevin hadn’t asked anything else, so he didn’t need to say anything else. But, of course, Kevin continued the conversation.

“Where’s home?” It was a friendly conversation and Jamie knew he shouldn’t be so annoyed by it, but Kevin just seemed to annoy Jamie in general, despite his constantly friendly demeanor.

“New Mexico.” Was all Jamie said and Kevin stopped talking. It seemed he was incapable of coming up for something in response to that. So they walked the rest of the way to Jamie’s apartment in silence. Jamie was fine with this and the silence soothed him. His annoyed brow flattened out and he was able to concentrate on what he was going to be doing when he got home. It was almost as if Kevin wasn’t walking beside him and he felt comfortable.

When they reached his door, Jamie unlocked it and let them both in. Oddly enough, he didn’t think it weird that Kevin followed right behind him without asking to be let in. Kevin had promised to walk him home, not anything else. Yet, there he was, standing in Jamie’s tiny living room, looking around as if he hadn’t seen it before.

“Um, I’ll go get the clothes.” Jamie said, realizing that Kevin was probably staying so Jamie could give him back the sweats and the sweater. Kevin nodded and crossed the small living room to his cabinet of movies. Slowly and warily Jamie left the room, hoping everything would remain intact when he left.

The sweats and sweater were folded neatly on the bed where he had left them every morning for the past week on the off chance he would give them back to Kevin that day. Grabbing them he returned to the living room to find Kevin sitting cross legged on the floor. He had his coat drawn up closely around him and Jamie realized he was wearing a tight pair of what looked like leggings that stopped just above his ankles. He couldn’t see his shirt below the jacket, but Jamie had a feeling it was something equally thin.

Approaching him he stretched out the clothes to offer them to Kevin. “Why did you walk with me if you were so cold?” Jamie asked as Kevin turned to take them from him. The movement revealed what Jamie had suspected: Kevin was wearing a skin tight under armor shirt with a wide neck.

“I wanted to walk with you. Plus, it wasn’t that cold.” Kevin said, lips turning a light shade of blue, legs shaking with shivers as he grasped the warm clothes tightly in his paling fingers. He was definitely cold.

“Idiot.” Jamie muttered turning around and heading back to his room where he grabbed the big, warm blanket that sat on the top of all his covers, pulling it with him into the living room where he flung it at Kevin.

“You’re not leaving until you’re warm.” Jamie insisted, turning from where Kevin was before Kevin could make eye contact with him. He headed into the kitchen where he started to heat up some milk, grabbing out two mugs for hot chocolate. There were shuffling sounds from the living room and then Kevin joined him in the kitchen, the sweats and sweater donned over his dancing clothes. 

Jamie turned pink at the thought that he had been wearing Kevin’s clothes for a week. “I was going to make-“ Jamie was cut off when his phone began to ring an up beat, Spanish song that Kevin didn’t recognize. 

Picking it up and swiping sideways Jamie answered in Spanish but the woman on the other end spoke in English, so he switched back.

“Yes, mama. I’ll be there sometime tomorrow night if I leave tomorrow morning.” Jamie spoke into the phone and Kevin gave him a wide eyed look that clearly said he was interested. Jamie gave him a look that told him not to say anything, but as Jamie listened to his mom’s voice on the other end of the phone, the darker boy naturally responded in the only way he knew how when someone else was on the phone.

“Jamie! Put that away!” He shouted this near Jamie’s ear in an erotic voice, groaning as he did so. The results were instantaneous as Jamie’s face flushed, void entirely of color at the words Kevin had said and the way he had said them.

The woman on the other end of the phone went into a rampage.

“N-No, mama! I-it’s n-not what y-y-you think!” Jamie desperately stuttered into the phone to calm the voice of the woman on the other end. Kevin died of later as quietly as he could and Jamie threw the nearest towel at him with an annoyed look in his eyes.

“M-mama! Please! You kn-know I’m not!” Jamie insisted to his mother, eyes turning watery as the voice on the other end turned from surprised and shocked to angry. Kevin’s bubbling laughter slowly died as he watched Jamie’s face turn from one of embarrassment to one of worry, upset at something his mother was saying. “Y-yes, mama. I know, mama. You know I’m not.” He continued to speak into the phone, becoming more relaxed the more he spoke.

“He’s just a friend, mama.” There was a lengthy comment on the other end and Jamie nodded. “Yes, mama. I’ll tell him not to do it again.” With this his worried look melted and he glared directly at Kevin, telling him not to do it again without having to say words. Kevin choked on a small bought of laughter.

“Wh-what? Mama, not after what he just did.” Jamie’s looked turned, once again, from relaxed to worried, some color draining again. He sighed and extended his arm with the phone in it toward Kevin. Shocked, Kevin took it and placed it to his ear.

“Hello?” He asked into it and he was greeted with the sweet voice of the Mrs. Cordero.

“You will not make jokes like that with me ever again!” She scolded into his ear and Kevin flinched at the familiar sound of a mother’s scolding. It was all too familiar. 

“Yes, ma’am.” He said and there was a huff into the phone where he assumed she was sighing with disgruntled approval. 

“However, we never get to meet Jamie’s friends.” Kevin was a bit shocked at the almost instant change in her tone of voice. Too shocked to say words, he allowed her to continue her thought. “I was wondering if you would like to join us for Thanksgiving, if you’re not otherwise occupied?” She asked and Kevin had to hold back a laugh. It wasn’t that it was a funny idea, spending time with Jamie over Thanksgiving. But the manner in which it had happened was amusing.

“I was going to join my parents again this year, but they get to live with me for three hundred and sixty-five days out of the year, so I think they can live without me for a three or four of them.” Kevin said, a big grin crossing his face when Jamie visibly sunk at these words, only hearing Kevin’s side of the conversation.

“That’s wonderful! I look forward to meeting you.” With that she asked for Jamie to be put back on and Kevin passed the phone back to his friend, who sighed defeatedly into the phone multiple times before saying goodbye and hanging up.

“You agreed!?” He asked incredulously when the call had officially ended. Kevin nodded and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Of course I did. I didn’t want to let your mom down.” Kevin responded and Jamie groaned. The milk on the stove had begun to boil minutes earlier and he turned then to finish making the hot chocolate.

“Fine, whatever. I’m leaving at six tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.” Jamie muttered to the pot of boiling milk and mugs before him. Kevin nodded and grinned, thrilled to have made it closer to Jamie through his own mama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naturally, the next chapter is going to be about how Thanksgiving goes and we learn more about Jamie.


	6. Bad Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin successfully got himself invited to Thanksgiving at the Cordero's. Now he and Jamie have to take the fifteen hour drive there....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so much free time now, guys, I just wrote an entire chapter in one sitting.... Here it is: road tripping with Kevin and Jamie and the fun introduction to the Cordero's!

Jamie’s alarm would have gone off at six thirty in the morning if there hadn’t come a loud banging sound from somewhere in the apartment. Groaning, the man looked toward his alarm clock to find that it was actually six twenty-five. At this he groaned again, rolling over on his bed and throwing the blankets off lazily. With a groggy head, he shuffled down the hallway and out toward the door where the banging resounded again.

“Hold your horses, I’m coming.” He called loudly, hoping the person on the other side would hear him. “Geez.” He muttered under his breath as he unlocked the door and opened it, his tired eyes taking in a rather awake looking Kevin dressed so simply he almost didn’t believe it was Kevin.

“Good morning, sunshine. Am I too early?” Kevin asked, looking behind Jamie into the still dark apartment living space. Jamie didn’t respond, still taken by surprise at Kevin’s appearance. 

“Something wrong, baby?” Kevin asked, waving a hand before Jamie’s face before the shorter man finally realized he had been staring. Feeling himself heat up a bit, he shook his head.

“Uh, no, come in.” Jamie said, taking a step to the side to allow Kevin in. He didn’t even remember that he needed to be angry at Kevin for somehow inviting himself along, he was too focused on his appearance.

Following Kevin further into the apartment, he was able to get a good look at him from behind. His light wash jeans had telltale wear and tear around the knees and rear. There was a single red patch on the left knee with a smiley face drawn on in what looked like black sharpie by an unsteady hand. He wore a plain grey T-shirt underneath a red flannel, which was underneath a grey jacket of a similar shade to the shirt. 

He looked…normal.

“Jamie? Are you sure you’re okay? You look really out of it.” Kevin’s voice interrupted Jamie’s thoughts and he realized, once again, he had been staring. Something about the worn and frayed pockets on the back of Kevin’s jeans drew Jamie’s attention like a good rom-com. 

“Uh, yeah. Just, tired. I’ll go get dressed and grab my things.” He didn’t make any comment about how angry he was Kevin was early, that Kevin had woken him up, that Kevin had banged on the door like his life depended on it, or that Kevin was by far the most attractive creature he had seen in years. Instead, he shuffled back down the hall in a daze toward his room where he took out some clothes to slip on. When he was done he shoved his pajamas into his bag along with his toothbrush and toothpaste. Quickly he slipped on some shoes and slung his bag over his back, grabbing his pillow when he figured he had grabbed everything.

“I forgot to ask: where am I sleeping?” Was the first thing Kevin said when Jamie reentered the room, now lit by the ceiling light. Kevin must have turned it on. He had posed a good question, which was just enough to distract Jamie from the fact that Kevin had a really long neck.

“Um, I dunno. I’ll be sleeping in my room. My sisters will be there, and the spare room was converted into a sewing room a couple of years ago. I guess we’ll have to see when we get there.” Jamie said, suddenly realizing how strange this was. Only a week and a half ago he had met this guy. Rude, flirty, and heavy on the charms, Jamie instantly disliked him. But here they were, standing in his living room, dressed like college students dress on cold mornings, planning where Kevin would sleep when they reached Jamie’s house for Thanksgiving. 

“Okay, that’s cool.” Kevin said with a shrug. “Is that all your stuff?” He asked, nodding toward Jamie’s bag. And there was the other thing throwing Jamie off: he was never this chill. Sure, he had gotten better about being less of the cool guy, but this was strange.

“Yeah. Let’s head out. We can stop for breakfast somewhere on the way.” Jamie suggested and Kevin grinned. Crap. He had just given Kevin an excuse for another date. And then yet another thought hit him: this whole trip was one, big date.

“Okay let’s go before traffic gets too heavy.” Jamie practically shouted, hustling toward the door before Kevin could try to make another move. The taller man gave him a weird look from behind before shaking his head and following. He switched off the front light and switched on the porch light, locking the door behind him because Jamie was already down almost all three flights of stairs. 

“Jamie, slow down. There’s no need to rush.” He called as the brunette raced toward the apartment complex’s parking lot. Wait, wait, hold on a second. 

Jogging down the rest of the stairs, Kevin reached Jamie, who had finally decided to wait for him. He was standing on the other side of the street from the apartment’s where the parking lot was located.

“Wait, you have a car?” Kevin asked, following Jamie as he continued into the parking lot and toward the spot marked for his apartment.

“Yeah, did you think I didn’t?” He asked, reaching the rear end of a small, white car that looked like it had just driven off the lot twenty years ago. 

“There is no way we’re going in that thing!” Kevin exclaimed as soon as he saw the red rusty lines along the joints and edges of each seam. The white paint was peeling in many locations and the tires looked almost flat, but not quite. There was a crack running the full length of the windshield and the colors on the license plate were beginning to fade. 

“Do you have a problem with Trusty Rusty?” Jamie asked, popping the back with so much effort he had to set his pillow and bag down to get enough leverage. Kevin choked.

“Yeah! Trusty Rusty? That thing is going to fall apart before we even leave the parking lot.” Kevin protested, part of him appalled that there was even something so ugly. His proud, rich side began to show forth as he protested, desiring to call out how poor Jamie was just by looking at the car. Luckily, Jamie spoke before he was able to say anything else.

“Oh? And you’re car is better?” Jamie asked, picking up his pillow and tossing it into the back before putting his hands on his hips and putting his weight on his left leg. Kevin wondered silently how he didn’t know he was gay.

“Yeah, I do. Hold on, let me get her.” Kevin said, dropping his bags onto the pavement at Jamie’s feet before walking away. Jamie watched in annoyance as he walked off, practically storming. So Kevin was stinking rich, so what? That didn’t give him the right to rat on Trusty Rusty. She had been in the family for generations. It was tradition to pass her down to the line of kids until the youngest was able to afford a better car. Since Jamie hadn’t exactly been making much money, Trusty Rusty was all he had.

There came a low growl from somewhere in the parking lot. The sound of squealing tires sounded and Jamie wondered how anyone could peel out from a parking space. Down the row came a bright, golden-yellow hot rod bumping nasty bass and driving a little too quickly for the short distance it had to travel.

It screeched to a halt right in front of Jamie.

“How do you like her, baby?” Kevin asked as he rolled down the window. Jamie had never been so close to a car this nice. It was slick and well kept, loved over every inch. There was a part of Jamie that was indignant due to Kevin’s bashing of Trusty Rusty, but this car was definitely better put together than his beloved heirloom. It would get them there all the more quickly and they would be riding in style.

Jamie fumed over how many pros weighed out the cons.

“It’s a nice car. But it doesn’t compare to Trusty Rusty.” Jamie insisted, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to pretend that he didn’t really want to get inside the yellow beast. 

“Uh-huh. Right. Get your stuff and get in. I’m driving us there.” Kevin said, opening his door to grab his own bags. There was minimal room in the trunk so the bags were stored on the back seat. Jamie slid into the passenger seat of the sports car, feeling a sudden surge of electricity from sitting where he was. 

Kevin slid into the driver’s seat beside him and took out his phone. 

“I’m going to punch in the town for now. You can direct me to the right place when we get there.” Kevin informed Jamie as the GPS instructed Kevin where to start. With a dramatic flourish, he revved the engine, make Jamie jump and grip tightly to the handle on the door. 

“Don’t worry, baby. She doesn’t bite.” Kevin laughed as he revved her up again and then took off like a bullet. They stopped at McDonald’s quickly to grab some breakfast and then drove in silence for the next three hours. 

The only sound was that of the bass and the engine, and Jamie wasn’t sure how much he was enjoying either of these noises. It was drowning out his thoughts and his drowsiness was beginning to take him over again. Throughout the trip he dozed off here and there, but he was never able to actually sleep.

Several hours into the trip he realized it had gone quiet. There was no music playing and the engine had stopped making sound. The car was completely still, he realized after a few minutes. Opening his eyes he also realized he had fallen asleep completely. Drowsily he sat up straight, stretching his arms and yawning. Once he was done he looked out the front window and noticed that they were parked outside a Walmart in what looked like the middle of nowhere.

Kevin wasn’t in the car.

Jamie figured he had gone inside and would be back soon, so he checked his phone and the messages from his family members. His mom had asked where they were, but since he didn’t know where they were, he waited to answer her. There was no internet service where they were, so Jamie put his phone away and waited for Kevin.

It didn’t take long before the dark skinned man appeared from the entrance of the store. He had removed both the jacket and the flannel and was proudly showing off his muscular arms with the T-shirt. Jamie watched in awe as he walked elegantly toward the car. His movements were so perfect. He was about to ask himself how Kevin did it, but then he recalled the beauty with which Kevin danced and he no longer needed to ask.

“Hey, you’re awake. I figured I’d grab us some snacks to hold us off until lunch. I hope you’re okay with Doritos and pretzels.” Kevin said as he dropped a bag into Jamie’s lap and slid into the driver’s seat. Glancing into it Jamie found two bags of Doritos and two bags of pretzels. 

“These are perfect. I love Doritos.” Jamie said, pulling all four out of the bag and dropping the bag at his feet to be used as a trash bag later. Kevin held out his hand and caught Jamie’s attention. Looking over at him he realized he was nodding at the chips. 

“You could just ask.” Jamie said indignantly, giving him the second bag and opening his own to take a large chip from the top of the bag. The cheesy goodness practically melted in his mouth and for a couple of minutes they just ate in happy silence, the only sound the crunching of the chips. 

“Alright, let’s get back on the road.” Kevin said before revving up the engine again and pulling out. The engine didn’t seem nearly as loud somehow and the music had been turned down, so the volume in the cab was welcoming of conversation. 

But what did they talk about?

“What’s your family like?” Kevin asked suddenly, almost making Jamie jump. Quickly he finished chewing his chip before responding.

“They’re my family, so I’m a bit biased.” Jamie responded, wondering if Kevin was looking for a ‘who is who’ explanation or just a general ‘what are they like’ answer. Kevin laughed.

“Good point. Just as a heads up, though, who’s who?” He asked and Jamie realized he had been looking for both. Nodding he thought about where to start. Where better to start than the top?

“My dad’s name is Javier. He’ll probably insist you call him that. He’s quiet, doesn’t say much. My mom’s name is Isabella. She loves to talk and gossip. Asking embarrassing questions is a skill of hers. There’s Camila, who’s the oldest. She’s married and has two kids, they’ll all be there. Carter, he’s Irish, with their kids Cameron and Cassie, they’re twins. Sonia is married and expecting. Her husband’s name is John. And then there’s me.” Jamie explained, feeling like there was so much more that could be added. But that was the basic rundown of his family, and what Kevin had asked for.

“That’s more than my family, but for some reason, I expected more.” Kevin mused aloud, not taking his eyes off of the road, but looking a little disappointed. Jamie shrugged at this.

“It’s normal. Most people hear that we’re Spanish and expect me to have three or four younger siblings. But I was the last.” Jamie responded. He didn’t mind being the youngest, it was nice having older sisters. They looked out for him before he was able to defend himself. Though, in some ways, he was still unable to defend himself. 

“What should I expect of Camila and Sonia?” Kevin asked, looking over at Jamie really quickly to give him a silly look. Jamie cracked a smile at this before responding.

“They’re both older sister types. Definitely into gossip, like my mom. But they’re a little tomboyish too. Definitely tougher than they look.” Jamie informed him, and Kevin nodded, making sounds of agreement and understanding. Jamie laughed at how goofy he was acting and the conversation progressed.

Kevin informed him of his extended family, aunts, uncles, and cousins. His grandparents made it in there somewhere, so Jamie felt obligated to bring up his seven aunts and five uncles between both his parents. Each side consisted of about fifty cousins each and Kevin was dumbfounded. 

His mother was an only child with only two children while his father had three brothers, all married. He talked about how he had considered his family large when he was a kid, but hearing Jamie’s story about his family made him realize he was sorely mistaken.

The conversation jumped into what they did with their families, to what they did in their free time. Jamie talked Kevin’s ear off for an hour straight about romance movies, novels, and his favorite romances in real life. Kevin detailed out his extensive years of dancing training and how passionate he was about all of it. There was nothing that could compare, he had said, driving onto an off ramp toward an Arby’s to stop for lunch.

The place was empty save a single customer sitting in an empty corner, away from everything else. They both ordered a heaping load of curly fries and a sandwich. When they had gotten their food they took a booth to take their minds off of the car for a bit. 

“When I was younger I used to come here all the time.” Kevin mused as he unwrapped the sandwich, dripping with melted cheese. As he took a bite Jamie smiled in amusement.

“Did your family like Arby’s?” Jamie asked and Kevin almost choked on his sandwich through his laughter. After finally chewing and swallowing, no thanks to Jamie who hadn’t stopped laughing, he answered.

“Yeah, Kyle and I loved it so much.” Kevin responded with such enthusiasm, it had to be nostalgia. His eyes seemed to gleam over and Jamie stopped laughing. He was remembering something, the way he drifted off was reminiscent of that moment in movies when the protagonist remembers something they loved. 

“Why do you never talk about Kyle?” Jamie asked, unsure if he was okay to be asking this kind of question. Kevin’s eyes dropped to his sandwich and he looked as if he was ready to just throw it out. For several minutes he didn’t say a word and Jamie was afraid he had stepped too far.

“I’m sorry I asked. You don’t have to answer me.” Jamie apologized, hesitantly taking another bite of his sandwich, watching Kevin closely. Kevin sighed as he did so, setting down his sandwich and running his fingers through his hair.

“No, you can ask. I just…I never talk about him with others. I just…don’t think I’m ready yet.” Kevin said, looking off to the side, avoiding eye contact entirely. Jamie nodded in understanding, disappointed that he didn’t get to hear about it, but glad he hadn’t angered Kevin this time by asking. 

They ate the rest of lunch in silence. As soon as the last curly fry was picked off the tray, Kevin stood and threw everything away before grinning manically and taking Jamie’s hand.

“C’mon, you drive this time.” Kevin said, dragging Jamie toward the car. Instantly he began to panic: him? Drive the car? Was Kevin crazy?

“Um, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’m an okay driver, but that is one nice car and I don’t want to ruin it.” Jamie protested, dragging his feet a bit as Kevin pulled him, trying his best to resist the grip. Sadly, Kevin’s arm muscles were in far better shape than most of Jamie’s body, so he was unable to resist and was soon being pushed into the driver’s seat.

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty good at telling when someone’s ready to stop. I’ll know when to pull over and take over the drive.” Kevin informed him, shutting the door behind him and jogging around to the other door. Swiftly he slid into place, closing it and pulling his seatbelt over his shoulder.

Jamie followed suit, pulling his seatbelt on as Kevin leaned over to give him the rundown. Half of what he said made no sense. The one thing that stuck out the most to Jamie, and worried him beyond belief, was that the thing was a stick shift.

“What, Trusty Rusty isn’t a stick?” Kevin asked, his brow creasing in confusion as Jamie voiced his concern over the stick shift issue.

“No, she’s one of the oldest manuals in existence, but she is manual.” Jamie responded, his voice shaky with nerves. This made Kevin laugh, but he didn’t seem any less confident with Jamie’s ability to drive his really expensive sports car.

“It’ll be fine. Just do as I say and take it slow for a bit. You can pick up speed once you get used to it.” Kevin comforted him and then told him to start the engine. At least that part was something Jamie was used to. With each new step, Kevin pointed and instructed, using a calm voice that seemed to settle Jamie’s nerves just a bit.

Before he knew it, he was backing out of the parking space at a centimeter per hour and pulling forward toward the freeway entrance. 

“Okay, now change gear.” Kevin told him and Jamie did as he said. The car shuttered and hitched a bit as he instructed it.

“Ah!” Jamie half shouted, feeling his foot release from the gas a bit. Kevin calmly, yet hastily, told him not to do that. 

“Leave your foot on the gas. It’ll be fine. Just keep going.” His voice was even and gentle, nothing like the flirty, cocky jerk he normally was. Jamie realized, as Kevin walked him through the steps toward the freeway, that it has become normal to consider this side of Kevin. Kevin could be both people, but he was so much cooler when he was this person. 

“Ah, ah, ah!” Jamie shook with nerves as they accelerated toward the freeway and merged into the closest lane. Luckily, the road was very empty, only a few cars in sight, and he had no competition for his lane.

“Come on Jamie, you got this. Just focus and trust me.” Kevin said and Jamie felt a surge of electricity. Following what Kevin had told him to do, he gently pressed his foot against the gas just a little more until he was up to speed. The car felt almost lighter than Rusty. He was afraid with a single wrong turn, the wind would send them spinning through the air, but there was something exhilarating about that.

“See, you’ve got it!” Kevin exclaimed and then clapped. Jamie hazarded a glance toward Kevin, a clear grin on his own face, before whipping his head toward the road again. They drive like this for six more hours, taking occasional pit stops. When they pull off for dinner, Kevin requests taking the wheel for the rest of the ride.

Even though he had gotten used to the car, Jamie more than willingly gave up the wheel so Kevin could drive again. It was his car, anyway.

The rest of the ride is spent in mostly silence. Occasionally someone would say something and a small conversation would spark, but for the most part they sat in silence. The music played softly and Kevin enjoyed singing along on occasion. Jamie found it amusing, but sweet. 

After two hours they finally reached his hometown and Jamie began directing Kevin in the correct direction of the house. They reach the long driveway that leads to the Cordero abode and Kevin stops.

“Ugh, this isn’t going to be fun.” He mutters, eyes on the road ahead. There’s no one on the stretch of open road they were turning off of, so Jamie doesn’t insist he move faster.

“Why?” He asks instead, looking from Kevin to the gravel road stretching for miles ahead of them.

“This is not an off road vehicle, Jamie. It wasn’t technically a road trip vehicle either, but I live with that fact because I don’t trust Rusty.” Kevin responded, easing the sports car onto the gravel. The car bumped and jumped along the road, hitting potholes and large rocks and bouncing Kevin and Jamie all about the cab.

“Oh gosh, you’re right.” Jamie groaned after half an hour of the throwing about of the car. He could almost feel his dinner coming back up.

“How long is this road?” Kevin asked, grunting as he hit a particularly large rock and he was thrown against the roof of the car.

“Um, ten miles?” Jamie answered, not remembering exactly how long the driveway was. It had been a few years since he had driven it, and Trusty Rusty made it feel like a road that only needed repaving. 

“Ugh.” Kevin groaned loudly. Together they worked on thinking up ways to make the situation better. A lot of them involved a game of some sort, but it was too dark outside to play anything that required the outdoors. They ended up talking long enough to occupy the time and, before long, they had reached the paved driveway before Jamie’s house.

The bright yellow hot rod pulled to slow stop in front of the small, blue house. There was nothing else around for miles on end and the instant the engine stopped everything felt dead quiet.

“It’s cute.” Kevin commented and Jamie smiled. It was home, and he had missed it a lot. Neither of his sisters would be arriving until the next day so it was only his mom and dad at home. There was a single light on in the window to the front room where he assumed his parents were watching TV while waiting for them to arrive.

As they rose out of the vehicle, the front door opened and Mrs. Cordero froze. She was nudged out of the way by Mr. Cordero, who stopped by his wife and grabbed her arm in alarm. Kevin moved to the back seat to grab the bags while Jamie took a running start toward his parents. 

Excitedly, the three embraced. Jamie heard his parents laughing in his ear and speaking in Spanish to him, telling him how much they had missed him and how he needed to visit more often. Kevin had managed to not only pick up all the bags, but Jamie’s pillow as well, and stopped right before all of them. When Mrs. Cordero finally noticed him, she tapped her husband on the back and the three split apart. Jamie looked toward Kevin, not sure what to do.

“Hello, I’m Kevin. I’m Jamie’s friend from Beach City.” Kevin said, setting down the bag in his right hand and shaking Mr. Cordero’s. Jamie felt instantly relieved that Kevin seemed to know what he was doing. 

“It’s very nice to meet a friend of Jamie’s. How did you two meet?” Jamie almost felt as if his mom was interrogating a new girlfriend, and he was afraid Kevin would take it that way. Kevin appeared to think for a second before responding.

“At a party one night. He seemed a little out of place, so I said hi.” Kevin said, and Jamie realized how easily Kevin warped the truth. They had met at a party, but Kevin hadn’t said hi. He had pulled Jamie in close to dance.

“Oh? I didn’t know Jamie went to parties.” Isabella sounded both pleased and concerned. Kevin prepared to answer when Mr. Cordero put a hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“Let’s go inside, Bella. They must be tired.” Javier said and the woman nodded in agreement. Javier took the bag off the ground for Kevin, who kindly thanked him. Jamie wasn’t sure when he would see which side of Kevin, and was glad his parents were seeing the nice Kevin, not the super flirty one. 

“Please have a seat. We’ll show you your arrangements in a bit, but we must have the annual interrogation of our son.” Isabella said, gesturing toward the couches for Kevin and Jamie to sit down on. Jamie instantly flopped onto the couch across from the TV, sinking into the familiar material of the cushions and letting out a contented sigh.

“Annual interrogation?” Kevin inquired as he took a spot next to Jamie, albeit a little too close for comfort. Javier and Isabella didn’t seem to notice as they took seats in the twin armchairs beside the couch.

“Every year I interrogate my son about his life. This is the first year in a while that I have gotten to do it in person.” She informed him and Kevin let out a small chuckle. Isabella smiled back before turning toward Jamie. At this point in time, the Spanish man had gotten used to his mama’s questions, and wasn’t nearly as embarrassed by them as most grown adults would be. But he had Kevin sitting right next to him and he wasn’t sure how much he wanted Kevin to hear.

“Let’s get started with the traditional first question.” Isabella started and Jamie laughed, sounding more nervous than he had intended to. “Have you found yourself a girlfriend yet?” Jamie looked down at the carpet when he felt Kevin twitch at this question. Jamie knew what Kevin thought, but he wasn’t gay. Even if he was, he couldn’t be so in front of his parents. Their traditions went far back and marrying a beautiful woman in your early twenties was tradition.

“Not yet, mama.” Jamie finally responded, looking back up to the disappointed look on his mom’s face as she clicked her tongue.

“You’re getting older, Jamie. You must find someone soon.” She instructed. Jamie could feel Kevin tense at this. They had never discussed their families’ views on different subjects, but he could tell Kevin had an entirely different idea of what marriage and love should be.

“I know, mama.” Jamie said with a small smile, feeling the embarrassment subside as the first question moved out of the way. Kevin was being very quiet, which surprised Jamie. Normally he would have taken the opportunity to talk about Jamie’s love life without a second thought. But he seemed to be contemplating something. This caught Isabella’s attention as well.

“What about you, Kevin. Do you have a girlfriend?” Jamie snapped his head in the direction of his mom and then to Kevin and then back to his mom. Kevin’s jaw had tightened and with close inspection, one could tell it wasn’t something he seemed entirely willing to discuss.

“I have not found myself true love yet, no.” He responded and Jamie was relieved to hear how relaxed he was while saying this. His words had been well chosen, Jamie could tell. Kevin was bi, from what he had learned, and discussing being in love with one gender didn’t get around him easily. Silently Jamie hoped this was where the conversation would end and his mama would continue the interrogation.

Alas, it was not.

“I’m sure the perfect woman is out there somewhere. For both of you.” Isabella added and Kevin appeared to have lost some more cool. Without thinking he jumped quickly into the conversation with a simple, short sentence:

“Or man.” And then the room went dead still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Kevin tries convincing Jamie he's gay


	7. Bad Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin outed himself to Jamie's parents without the knowledge that the Cordero's are traditionalists. When Jamie becomes inspired by Kevin's actions he takes on a challenge that leads him down a road he didn't expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick warning: Kevin gets a bit naughty, but there isn't anything explicit. Also, we're getting closer to finding out about one part of Jamie's fever dream!

The sun had gone down hours ago and the lights inside the small house were the only ones that could be found for miles around. Accompanying the darkness was a silence rarely heard at the Cordero household. Kevin sat beside Jamie on a couch in the living room, sitting a bit close for Jamie’s comfort. Mr. and Mrs. Cordero sat beside each other on two separate, matching chairs. They had been chatting pleasantly until the conversation had changed to lovers. 

And Kevin had spoken out. 

“Excuse me?” Mr. Corder broke the seemingly eternal silence and Kevin could feel Jamie duck his head and tense up. But the taller boy didn’t move his gaze from the two older adults sitting diagonal from them.

“Or man.” Kevin repeated himself, looking Mr. Cordero right in the eyes when he said this. Mrs. Cordero appeared to be working through what she was going to say next, her eyes flicking between Jamie and Kevin as if ready to question the true nature of their relationship.

“Excuse me?” Mr. Cordero repeated himself as well and Kevin felt his patience vanishing slowly. He straightened in his seat and continued to look straight into the older man’s eyes. He had done this before, but it hadn’t been nearly as tense the first time. 

His parents had been confused when he had come out as bi. They had asked questions and made sure they were aware of everything. For the first month or two they were wary around Kevin, as if they might say or do something wrong. But the air in the room when he had told them hadn’t been tense, just a little taught. But this was very tense.

“You said the perfect woman is out there,” he started, “but I am attracted to both men and women. So I added on ‘man’.” Kevin clarified and he felt Jamie twitch slightly. Taking a quick glance toward Jamie he realized the smaller man was avoiding looking at his parents. He was uncomfortable with the situation.

“Jamie.” When his mom spoke, Jamie’s head snapped up, but his expression wasn’t curious: it was frightened. “Last night when I called, what were you and Kevin doing?” At the question, Mr. Cordero cringed. Jamie opened his mouth to protest.

“Mama! He was cold and had been out all night so I was making hot coco.” Jamie responded, his voice shaking slightly. Kevin realized, as he watched the exchange between mother and son, that he had made things worse. 

“I apologize for bringing it up, Mrs. Cordero. Jamie and I are just friends.” Kevin insisted, holding up his hands to show his innocence. Jamie looked over at him, his face red from embarrassment and threatening tears. Mrs. and Mr. Cordero both looked over to him with concerned looks. For a moment, no one spoke.

“Of course. Come, you both must be tired. Let me show you your room…s.” Isabella offered, standing stiffly and gesturing for the two to follow them. Kevin stood and grabbed his bag and went to take Jamie’s. Quickly, Jamie snatched his bag off the floor and gave Kevin a look that told him to back off for a little bit. Obliging, he took a step back and followed the two down the hallway.

“Jamie, you’ll stay in your room. Kevin, you can have Camila’s room.” Isabella offered, gesturing toward the door that must have lead to Camila’s room.

“Mama, there’s a mattress on the floor.” Jamie pointed out when he had returned from his room. Isabella looked down the hall to where Javier stood. They seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation, which Jamie interrupted, slightly offended. “Mama, if you’re short on space, Kevin can stay in here.” Kevin felt himself heat up a bit at how defensive Jamie sounded about the whole thing. He was standing up for Kevin. Kind of.

“No, Jamie. Kevin can have Camila’s room. We’ll figure something out when she gets here tomorrow morning.” Jamie looked appalled at his mom, his expression slightly red. Kevin watched him shift his weight and realized his free hand was shaking. He was really nervous. Kevin smiled slightly at this. He was standing up to his parents. Something he obviously hadn’t done before.

“Mom, it’s fine. Kevin’s not- nothing’s going to happen. Kevin can sleep in here. Camila needs the room.” Jamie insisted, gesturing toward Kevin in the doorway to Camila’s room. Isabella looked down, as if trying to think of another excuse for Kevin to stay in Camila’s room.

“Bella, Camila does need more space. It’s only for two nights.” Javier said and Jamie’s head snapped down the hall toward his father. His expression was not calm nor was it happy, but he didn’t seem to fight the idea as hard as Isabella was. 

“Javier-“ She was cut off before she could continue.

“Bella, let it be. Let’s get some rest. We have a big dinner to prepare tomorrow night.” Javier held out his hand and, after a moment of hesitation, Isabella took it and he lead her toward another part of the house, leaving the two boys alone.

“Oh my gosh.” Jamie began shaking violently then, his knees starting to buckle underneath him. Kevin lunged forward and caught him before he fell. Quickly he scooped him up into the bridal hold.

“You were very brave.” Kevin commented as Jamie blushed and attempted to push out of his arms.

“Yeah, well, my sister needs more space than either of us.” Jamie mumbled out as Kevin gently set him down on the side of the bed. With a plop the taller boy dropped down next to him. For a moment, there was no sound but their breathing and words from somewhere else in the house. They sounded angry.

“Your parents are….” Kevin commented and Jamie took a shaky breath.

“I should have warned you. I just didn’t know how to bring it up.” Jamie fretted with the hem of his shirt, rolling his index finger in it over and over again. Kevin smiled down fondly at this action, as if he had grown used to it.

“Yeah, well, at least I know now.” Kevin muttered back, looking down at his feet, still clad in the boots he had been wearing all day. For another moment, there was silence. But it was comfortable.

“I’m gonna-“ They both started at the same time and froze when they realized it. Kevin gestured to Jamie who blushed and then restarted.

“I’m gonna get ready for bed.” With that he stood, grabbing his bag and heading into another room somewhere in the hallway. Kevin sighed, watching after him.

“I’m gonna get my bag.” He muttered to himself before standing and grabbing his bag, which he had left in the doorway of Camila’s room. Dropping it on the mattress on the floor he got down on his knees and unzipped it, not having to dig far to find the PJ pants he had brought. In all honestly he never slept with pajamas, but he had brought them in case the house was cold. Since the house wasn’t cold, he had considered not using them. But after the whole ordeal with Jamie’s parents, Kevin figured it was best to sleep in pajamas.

Digging out an old shirt he had packed in case he got one of his nicer ones dirty for whatever reason, he began to strip and change. 

He was unbuckling his belt to change his pants when the door opened and Jamie walked in as he pulled them from his waist.

“Ah!” Jamie exclaimed before backing out and closing the door. Kevin smirked and laughed. How innocent! 

“Gee, Jamie. For a straight guy, you sure are afraid of me.” Kevin commented in a flirty voice, continuing to remove his pants, slowly, in case Jamie walked in again.

“I-I am not!” Jamie protested through the crack in the door. Again, Kevin laughed. 

“Then why are you still in the hallway?” Kevin asked, kicking his feet out of his pants and leaning down to grab the pajama bottoms. A couple of thought out seconds after he said this, the door opened again and Jamie entered, his bag in one hand, his head ducked low so his hair covered his face. 

Kevin felt a pang in his heart as he watched the smaller man crawl onto the bed and pull the covers over himself. Pulling on the pajama bottoms he huffed to himself. Jamie was beginning to make him angry, his adamantly insisting he wasn’t gay. Kevin grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste he walked out into the hallway, located the bathroom, and brushed his teeth. 

When he had finished he found his way back to Jamie’s room and closed the door. Jamie appeared to be asleep, but Kevin knew better than to believe that. So he turned off the light and dropped onto the mattress. Slowly he crawled toward Jamie’s bed and got onto his knees, leaning his entire body over Jamie.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to sleep with you, baby?” Kevin whispered into Jamie’s ear and the other man gasped in shock before shoving his hand really hard into Kevin’s chest.

“Go to sleep!” Jamie growled at him, his voice cracking slightly. With a click of his tongue, Kevin rubbed his chest and rolled into a seated position on the mattress. If it wasn’t going to work that way, Kevin was going to have to think of a new plan.

And then he would execute it in the morning.

\---

When Kevin woke up, Jamie was already out of bed. Glancing at his phone he realized it was already nine in the morning. The lingering smells of breakfast wafted toward the bedroom, drawing Kevin out of bed. Groggily he pulled on a pair of jeans and a better shirt, running his hands through his hair and not even bothering to go into the bathroom to properly fix it.

Trudging out of the room and down the hallway, he followed the smell toward the kitchen where three people worked around the kitchen, four sat at the table, and two small ones ran in circles. Kevin froze in place when he realized Camila and Sonia had arrived while he was sleeping. And the entire family was in the kitchen. Awake.

“Hello, Kevin. Nice of you to join us.” The formal words came from the far side of the kitchen table, where Mr. Cordero sat peeling potatoes. His expression was a bit sour but he appeared to be trying to not come off as rude. At the sound of his name, the rest of the family turned to look at him. John and Carter were both taller than him, he could tell just by looking at them. Sonia and Camila were beautiful and spitting images of their mother, but younger looking. Cassie and Cameron froze in place and then attacked Kevin on both sides.

“Good morning. I see everyone’s here.” Kevin finally got out when John and Carter stood and offered hands to shake. Noticing he had been right – both John and Carter were a good three plus inches taller than him – he freed his right hand to shake theirs. 

“So you’re Jamie’s friends. We’re the in-laws. It’s nice to meet you.” One of them said and Kevin smiled and nodded. After the taller one – darker too, his skin was almost as dark as Kevin’s – had introduced himself as John, Kevin finally knew all their names. Cameron was obviously the boy, as Cassie kept shouting at him to stop tugging on her hair every time she stopped moving. 

When the introductions had settled and both Sonia and Camila had given Jamie a good once over, Mrs. Cordero pointed to a bit pot in the corner of the kitchen, put off to the side. Next to it was a single plate and a fork. Inside was some eggs and hash browns, all mixed together.

Brushing off the disdain he could feel coming off of her in waves, he thanked Isabella before scooping himself a plate and eating it in the corner, where he thought he was least in the way.

Of course, he was very much wrong. Cameron and Cassie kept running into his legs and three times he almost dropped his food and plate. Sonia and Camila kept trying to get into the drawers he was leaning against and twice Jamie had backed right into him carrying a large tray of something. 

It wasn’t until he actually dropped his plate that things got crazy.

Cassie had finally had enough of Cameron tugging her hair and running off and, instead of chasing after him, had decided to stay where she was and trip him instead. This was extremely successful and Cameron went sprawling across the kitchen floor. This tripped up his mom, who nearly dropped her large bowl of freshly peeled potatoes on top of him. 

Camila’s abrupt halt cause Jamie to slam into her and she had to slam her bowl onto the table to catch her balance. John started at the jump and his chair backed into Kevin’s toes. With a loud yell – a word probably not appropriate around children – he dropped the plate and his hands shot toward his toes and his toes toward his hands.

The room froze.

Mrs. Cordero hadn’t moved from her spot at the stove and had actually dropped her hands onto either side stove where the counters surrounded it. Kevin hissed under his breath and held his toes in his hands, rubbing them to make them feel better. Cassie stared up at Kevin and then glanced at her mom. Cameron whined on the floor where he couldn’t see anything and his face hurt. Jamie, cornered behind Camila and the counter, whipped his head between Kevin and his mom.

Javier stood carefully to rest a hand on his wife’s shoulder. 

“I need my kitchen empty.” Isabella said. When no one moved immediately she clarified. “Now!” With that, the kids zipped out of the room, the couples speed walked toward the living room, and Jamie grabbed Kevin’s hand and dragged him from the room.

Limping behind him Kevin watched Jamie, barely looking where they were going. They made it out the front door. The kids were playing out in the front yard, but Jamie didn’t stop in the front yard. He dragged Kevin around the back of the house and up the slope to where a small, spotty patch of trees stood. When they had successfully reached the top of the hill, Jamie let go of his hand and dropped into the dead grass at the base of the trees.

Kevin was at a loss for words. They were maybe one hundred, two hundred feet from the house. The sounds of Cameron and Cassie playing were almost inaudible and the house was far smaller than he had originally thought. 

“Um, so….” Kevin tried before he looked down to where Jamie sat. The tan boy panted heavily and Kevin dropped into a seated position beside him. Crossing his legs he looked out ahead of them. The hill wasn’t very wide, so they could look out over the miles of dry grass and spotty trees from where they sat. 

“Quite the view.” Kevin muttered before Jamie burst out laughing. Kevin took on a surprise look as he turned to look Jamie over. The boy was leaning back, face toward the sky laughing uncontrollably. Kevin felt himself warming up as he looked Jamie over. In the morning light his features were beautiful, smoother than he had ever seen before. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he laughed and his shoulders scrunched up to his ears. Small freckles became visible as the light hit the bridge of his nose just right and Kevin found himself falling for the man before him.

“Oh my gosh! I have never had so much fun!” Jamie finally stopped laughing, snapping Kevin out of his hypnotized state. Shaking his head, Kevin looked away quickly before turning back as if he had never been staring.

“What? You’re mom just yelled at all of you because I dropped a plate and yelled a bad word.” Kevin voiced his confusion while his brows creased, showing his confusion in his face.

“I know! You’ve pissed off my mom more in the last twelve hours than any of have on an entire lifetime!” Jamie explained, turning to look Kevin in the eyes, his face lit with extreme joy. Again, Kevin was entranced. He grinned back and Jamie and chuckled a little bit at his words.

“Yeah, I guess I have. But what makes that funny?” Kevin asked the second question, realizing that he didn’t know why it was funny. Jamie shook his head and stared ahead of himself.

“I have been scared out of my mind to make my mom angry for twenty-four years!” Jamie laughed and Kevin grinned back at him. Assuming Jamie meant he had been afraid of making his mom since he was born, he was older than Kevin. Wow, Kevin had never felt so strongly for an older man.

“Want to make her angrier?” Kevin asked, leaning in closer to Jamie. Jamie slowly stopped laughing and turned to look at Kevin, a wicked look on his face.

“What did you have in mind?” He asked, his voice shaking out of nerves. So he enjoyed pissing his mom off, but he was still afraid of doing it. How cute.

Slowly, Kevin leaned in closer and Jamie froze, watching Kevin’s face closely. When he didn’t move, Kevin allowed himself to reach Jamie completely and their lips met. Jamie tasted like strawberry pop tarts and hash browns. Why hadn’t Kevin gotten to have a pop tart? The question slipped from his mind when Jamie didn’t immediately push him away.

After a straight minute, Kevin backed away for air. Jamie’s eyes were closed and he was panting. His face was bright red and his eye lids fluttered, but he hadn’t moved. Either he really did want to make his mom angry, or he was accepting Kevin. Taking this as an invitation, Kevin moved back in.

Kevin had had many make out sessions, all of them more or less non-commital. But this? This was amazing! Jamie’s virgin lips trembled under his touch and Kevin allowed himself to play around softly, letting Jamie to get used to him before he attempted anything more intense. Still, Jamie didn’t move.

The glee coursing through Kevin’s body overwhelmed him and he slowly leaned in further, pushing Jamie to the hard, prickly ground. Rotating his body he straddled the smaller man, both his hands and legs on either side of his body. Testing, Jamie reached his hands up and pulled Kevin closer by the neck. Kevin smiled into the kiss over this small thing and pressed harder into the action.

Only occasionally did they come up for air and, when they did, it was brief and annoying. Kevin had never wanted someone so much, it was more than enjoyable. Carefully he played around with his kisses, beginning to trail them down Jamie’s cheek and then his neck. Jamie held onto Kevin allowing these things, but holding himself tense as if he wasn’t sure how far he wanted to go.

Then Kevin got too excited.

Kissing Jamie’s shoulder, Kevin felt himself loosening up. It had been so long since he had felt this way about someone. It felt amazing. Slowly he moved his hands from beside Jamie’s head down his sides and under his shirt, sliding up his bare sides just a little bit.

“Ah!” Jamie gasped, but didn’t make any move to stop him. Kevin stayed there for a little while longer, worried that he might go too far. Instead he picked up his left leg and adjusted Jamie’s right leg so it was further from his left. Leaning down so that he was laying on top of Jamie he began rock himself back and forth. That was where everything went wrong.

With one quick, surprisingly strong shove, Jamie rocketed Kevin off of him and scooted backward, panting heavily and turning very, very red. 

“What was that!?” He practically screamed at Kevin, who had rolled onto his butt into a seated position, still panting as well. Creasing his brow he gave Jamie a once over.

“What was what?” Kevin asked, confused. Jamie gawked before gesturing with both hands toward his legs.

“That! What was that!?” Jamie asked again, this time in more of a whisper shout than an actual shout. Kevin sneered.

“I was trying to help.” Kevin responded, crossing his arms over his chest as Jamie crossed his legs and placed his hands in the middle of them. 

“Help? How was that helping?” Jamie still sounded angry and it was making Kevin angry, just hearing the tone his voice had taken on.

“You wanted to make your mom angry, didn’t you?” Kevin asked and Jamie took on a shocked, surprised, and exasperated look all at once. It was amazing how many expressions this man had.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would start to go…there!” Jamie exclaimed and Kevin sneered again, feeling less exhilarated and more frustrated. This was hopeless.

“Wouldn’t that really piss of your mom?” Kevin questioned and Jamie’s mouth opened and shut like a fish out of water. Of course it would piss her off, he thought. But…he hadn’t thought Kevin had planned to go anywhere further than making out. He actually hadn’t thought Kevin’s idea of pissing of his mom was to make out at all. It had surprised him.

“Wait, my mom would never know about this unless we told her. And even then, she wouldn’t believe this.” Jamie realized, looking down at the dry grass and dirt below him. Crap, he probably had it all over his back and in his hair. 

“So?” Kevin asked, leaning back against the tree behind him, feeling himself cool off a bit. He could get over this. It was just Jamie being an idiot.

“This wasn’t to piss off my mom at all! It was to make you happy!” Jamie accused and Kevin felt himself boil over. That was it.

“I have had enough of you, Jamie Cordero! I don’t care of you want to make your mom happy or what, but you felt it! I know you felt it because you let me have you! It may have been for no more than ten minutes, but you let me have you and you enjoyed it!” Kevin shouted, standing from where he had been sitting, pointing at Jamie accusingly. The Spanish man gaped at Kevin, but didn’t say anything. “Yes, I enjoyed it. Of course I did! I’m falling in love with you, Jamie, and if you don’t realize how much you like me then I’ll just have to….” Kevin froze, not sure what he would have to do. 

It wasn’t like they ran into each other all the time in Beach City. Avoiding each other would be easy. Kevin felt a pang in his heart as he thought about avoiding Jamie. He didn’t want to avoid the smaller man. His quirks, his ticks, he himself. He was beautiful and adorable and fragile and it was amazing.

“I’ll just have to leave Beach City!” With those words said, Kevin turned and stormed down the hill, trying very hard not to trip and tumble the rest of the way down.

“Leave! I don’t care if you go!” Jamie yelled after him, turning to face the house as he did so. Kevin left Jamie fuming, sitting alone, at the top of a small hill covered in dry grass. As he watched Kevin walk around the house he felt himself cooling down without his own commands. Slowly he realized how much he would hate not having Kevin around and tears began to bubble toward the surface.

“That was pretty hot for being just friends.” The voice behind him startled him and he jumped a good foot in the air. Beside him someone sat down and the legs of another person stood on his other side.

“What? I’m pregnant. If I sit down, I’m not getting back up.” Jamie glanced to one side of himself to find Camila sitting beside him, looking up at the other person. When he turned his head he found Sonia, which he had guessed, standing beside him, leaning against a tree.

“You-you guys saw th-that?” Jamie stuttered, face turning even more red than he was sure was physically possible. 

“Oh yeah. Saw and heard it. Ouch, Jamie. That was a little harsh.” Sonia commented, looking down at Jamie accusingly.

“Harsh!? H-he came onto me f-for himself!” Jamie exclaimed, throwing his hands before himself to gesture toward the house.

“Jamie, he practically confessed his love to you after making out with you. Which you enjoyed, might I add.” Camila responded, sounding calmer than she probably should have. Jamie shook his head, appalled at his sisters.

“I did not enjoy it! I was just trying to make mom angry!” He explained and the two women nodded. 

“Right, and mad she will be. But Jamie, he likes you a lot. He wouldn’t have been so angry if he didn’t.” Sonia commented and Camila agreed with a nod of her head. Jamie shook his in exasperation.

“Why are you guys even counseling me on this? Don’t you think it’s wrong to be gay?” Jamie asked and the two girls smiled sweetly at him.

“Of course not! You do you, boo. If you’re gay, then you’re gay! You’ve had more success with this one guy than with any girl in your entire life!” Camila pointed out and Jamie froze. She was right. He had been on dates and to proms and nothing had ever come of it but a new friend and no girlfriend. He hadn’t even been kissed before Kevin and suddenly he was making on the hill above his childhood home. 

“But I’m not gay.” He whispered, almost forgetting they were there. There was some shuffling and grunting as Sonia sat down next to him. Both Jamie and Camila watched with shock in their expressions. When Sonia had reached the ground she got their looks, panting a little.

“What? He needs level counsel from his second oldest sister.” Sonia defended herself and Camila laughed. Jamie was only able to utter a chuckle before Sonia looked him right in the eye. “Jamie, we love you. We always have. But come on: you can’t be this thick! You’ve never kissed a girl! All your dates end up being your friends, and you never got shy, nervous, or excited when we went shopping for girl stuff with mom.” Sonia said firmly and Jamie recalled all these things. 

“Those either point to you being one weird straight guy, or gay. We’re not going to tell you if you are gay or not, but it’s up to you to figure it all out. Because Kevin is one fine catch, younger brother!” Sonia slapped him on the back at this and Camila laughed. Jamie stared ahead of himself.

“I don’t know.” Jamie whispered and his sisters went silent again. For a minute or two they made no noise.

“What would Tessa tell you to do?” Camila asked after a while and Jamie felt tears welling up in his eyes again.

“Go get him, tiger.” Jamie laughed and the girls smiled.

“He’s you’re North Star, Jamie, and you better not lose sight of him.” Sonia added on, her eyes gazing off toward the house as they reminisced about Tessa’s crazy love rant.

“If he’s willing to follow you to the ends of the Earth just to win you over,” Camila continued again.

“Then there’s no use making him run.” Sonia added on and then allowed Camila to add on the next line. 

“True love only comes once in your life.” Camila popped on, still grinning as she waited for Sonia to go further. There were tears running down Jamie’s face.

“It may feel crazy, but that’s what love is.” Sonia finished and the two girls stopped speaking and looked toward Jamie, who was wiping the tears from his face.

“So go get him, crazy.” Jamie whispered, his throat catching slightly at the words. “But don’t forget to tell me all about him.” The three laughed together, sitting on the top of the hill, looking over their family home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tessa's love rant (without the breaks):
> 
> “Go get him, tiger.  
> He’s you’re North Star, Jamie, and you better not lose sight of him.  
> If he’s willing to follow you to the ends of the Earth just to win you over, then there’s no use making him run.  
> True love only comes once in your life. It may feel crazy, but that’s what love is.  
> So go get him, crazy.  
> But don’t forget to tell me all about him.”


	8. Bad Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie comes back inside with a little somethin-somethin from Kevin and then the entire night goes downhill. After a little advice from unexpected sources, Jamie tells Kevin about Tessa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter than other chapters, but I found it entertaining to write, so I hope you enjoy!

It was another hour before Jamie got up the courage to go back inside. He sat on the top of his favorite hill; overlooking his childhood home with a fondness many were not allowed. He figured his mom would worry after a while, but he let her. Making her angry had been his initial goal anyway. 

For the most part he thought. He thought about what Kevin said, about what Camila and Sonia said, and about what Tessa said all those years ago. Was he going to make Kevin run? It was clear the other man was sprinting a marathon just trying to catch Jamie. But did he want to stop and let Kevin catch up? That was the question that was still ringing through his mind when he finally stood to head back down to the house.

Camila and Sonia had brushed the dirt off of his head and back for him, and he was still brushing dirt and grass off of his butt when he opened the door to the house and stepped into the warm scent of food and the calming sounds of family.

Camila, Sonia, John, and Carter sat on the sofas and chairs in the living room, having a conversation about who knew what while Kevin sat on the floor playing with Cassie and Cameron. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, which made Jamie smile fondly when he saw it. Kevin didn’t look up when he entered the house, but everyone else did. 

“Jamie, where have you been? I was starting to get worried.” Isabella was by the stove, still working on something with Javier’s assistance. Both parents turned toward their son when he entered and Jamie smiled sheepishly. He may have felt exhilarated by the idea of making his mom angry earlier, but seeing her expression and feeling the genuine worry come off of her made him feel awful. 

“Sorry, mama. I fell asleep.” He lied and she clicked her tongue on annoyance. It had been a common occurrence when he was younger to run off and fall asleep on the hill. Isabella approached him, wiping her hands off on the apron hanging over her neck, and reached her hands up to grab either side of his face. Like a true mother, he turned his head side to side to make sure he was alright. She froze when she turned it to the right and caught a glimpse of the left side of his neck.

“What is that, Jamie? It looks like a-“ But she was cut off when Camila shot to her feet, exclaiming:

“He must have fallen asleep on a rock!” She raced over to Jamie and her mom, inspecting what must have been a perfectly round bruise sitting on his neck, right where it met with his shoulder. Jamie wondered at what they were looking at, especially when he noticed Kevin turn bright red and look away, unlike the rest of the room.

“How did you manage that?” Isabella questioned as Sonia stood to join the other two women in their inspection of the bruise. Jamie shrugged at her question. 

“I don’t know. I guess I’m really tired.” He responded, playing along with what Camila had explained. He had no idea what they were looking at or why Camila was being so jumpy about it, but he figured it must have been something he didn’t need his mom to know. 

“It should be gone by tomorrow, mama.” Sonia commented calmly, the opposite of her clearly jumpy sister. Isabella didn’t seem to notice the difference in the attitudes of the sisters and just seemed concerned about what was on her son’s neck.

“Alright, well, let’s hope it is.” Mrs. Cordero muttered, removing her hands and setting them on her hips.

“I think I might have something that can help it along.” Camila commented, her skitter-y attitude taking itself down a notch as she said this. Sonia nodded along at this, adding that she was pretty sure she had something as well to help it along.

“Go ahead. Get yourselves cleaned up, while you’re at it. Dinner’s almost ready.” Isabella shooed the three out of the room and Jamie tried to catch Kevin’s gaze. The man on the floor avoided eye contact but still looked flustered for whatever reason.

When the three of them crammed themselves into the bathroom Camila began to die of laughter and Sonia began digging through a small black bag sitting on the counter.

“Oh my gosh! He gave you a hickey!” Camila whisper shouted at Jamie, laughing her head off as quietly as she could manage. Jamie froze. Having never been kissed posed some struggles, but from his sisters’ stories of past boyfriends and getting in trouble with their mom, Jamie knew all too well what a hickey was.

“That’s what this is?! Oh my gosh, he really did give me a hickey!” Jamie whisper shouted back, leaning over the counter toward the mirror to see the round, purple mark on his neck. Turning bright red, Jamie felt just like Kevin had only moments earlier in the living room. He completely understood why the darker man looked so embarrassed and had tried so hard to ignore the conversation entirely. 

“Yes, and mama almost found you. It won’t go away by tomorrow, but we’re going to have to make it look like it will.” Sonia commented calmly, keeping her cool as Camila died of laughter and Jamie died of embarrassment.

“What do you mean it won’t be gone by tomorrow?” Jamie asked, turning his head toward Sonia as Camila took what her sister offered her.

“It’s a real bruise, Jamie. It’ll take a while to disappear. Meanwhile, a mark left by falling asleep on a rock would be gone by the time dinner is over.” Sonia explained, directing Camila by pointing her finger at the hickey. Camila slapped her sister’s hand away gently, voicing her protests against any help.

“What are you doing?” Jamie asked, trying to turn his head to look at Camila. Sonia yanked his head back in her direction, leveling out the skin where the purple mark sat.

“Applying a thin layer of foundation. This way, it’ll look like it’s already starting to fade. After dinner, we can apply some more.” Camila explained. Jamie sighed, knowing his sisters knew best, and gave into them. “It’s a good thing we have similar skin tones.” Camila muttered under her breath as she finished up, handing the foundation back to Sonia.

Jamie turned to the mirror, sighing in relief as he noticed the significantly lighter purple mark. His mom wouldn’t suspect a thing, hopefully, and he would get away without an issue. 

“Now, the hickey will probably take about a week to go away.” Sonia explained and Jamie felt himself getting light headed. He still had work! There was still Steven and Connie and Barbara! How was he going to explain this to them? Okay, Steven and Connie were probably easier, but Barbara? She had a daughter that was close to his age: she probably had her fair share of hickey experiences.

“Why me?” Jamie groaned, leaning over the sink and drooping his head. He had fallen right into dramatic Jamie and his sisters weren’t going to have any of it.

“C’mon, Jamie. You’ll live. It’s just a hickey. Now wash your hands and get out, it’s starting to get cramped in here.” Camila instructed, turning on the water and shoving Jamie’s hands into the sink. He did as he was told, sulking back into the living room when he was done. Everyone was already at the kitchen table, waiting for the three siblings. In a small house, sound carried, so the young man hoped they hadn’t heard anything.

“Come, sit. Dinner is ready.” Isabella said, gesturing to an open seat beside Kevin. Jamie took it, reluctantly, and scooted slightly closer to the edge that was away from Kevin. He felt the disdain coming off the taller boy in floods and tried his best to pretend he still wasn’t wary around him.

When Camila and Sonia arrived: dinner commenced. It wasn’t terribly awkward. As long as Kevin was talking with someone else, Jamie felt fine. The two of them barely made eye contact, bumped into each other, or even reached for the same food plate at the same time. They were being very good at avoiding each other when John swallowed his food, looked Jamie right in the eye and asked:

“How did you meet Kevin? You two don’t seem very likely as friends.” It was almost like Isabella’s interrogation night, only John was entirely oblivious to Jamie and Kevin’s earlier interactions. He felt his sisters’ eyes on him, acting polite but silently burning holes.

“Um, I met him at a party.” Jamie responded, hoping the questions would end there. They weren’t given a chance to continue, as Kevin elaborated on the answer.

“He was alone and someone had just given him an atrocious plastic fedora. I needed to fix the bad fashion statement, so I gave him my own beanie.” Kevin said, and John turned toward him. Jamie could tell his brother-in-law was finding Kevin’s side of the story far more interesting. 

“Did you guys talk most of the night?” John asked, his curious expression turning slightly more interested as he asked. Jamie could feel John was on the verge of asking something that might piss off Isabella or Javier, but neither of them had said anything yet.

“You could say that. I offered to-“ Kevin started to respond when he was cut off by Jamie standing up abruptly, his chair knocking into the counters behind him. Both his hands were on the table on either side of the plate full of seconds. The entire table stared at him: except Kevin.

“I’m…I’m not feeling so well.” Jamie muttered before turning around and walking off toward his room where he crawled into the bed and pulled the blankets over his head.

\---

“Jamie?” A voice whispered through the door to his bedroom. It wasn’t one of his sisters, but it wasn’t Kevin either. Groggily, the Spanish man rolled over to find both of his brothers-in-law peaking through the door.

“What…?” Jamie asked and they slipped in, closing the door behind themselves as if they didn’t want anyone to know they were in there. Both of them were tall and Jamie’s bed wasn’t exactly very far off the floor, so they both towered over him. 

“Hey, we know we don’t talk to you very often, but your sisters told us everything.” Carter said and Jamie felt himself heat up. They were avoiding making eye contact, he could tell this was making them uncomfortable. But they were there, and they were talking. It was more than could be said of Kevin. 

“Can we sit?” John asked and, with a sigh, Jamie rolled over so he was sitting crisscross on his pillows. He then gestured to the rest of the space left on the bed and they sat down beside him.

“They told you everything?” Jamie asked after a moment of silence. Both John and Carter nodded and Jamie groaned. “Even about the…hickey?” He asked, hesitating in case maybe, just maybe, Camila and Sonia had been nice about it.

“Even about the hickey.” John responded and Jamie felt like melting into his bed and disappearing forever. 

“They just want to help, Jamie. They thought, maybe, since we’re guys, we’d give better advice.” Carter explained and Jamie nodded. He understood why they would do it, it was just really awkward that they had gone through with it after all.

“We’re not really love experts.” John began and Carter scoffed. They looked at each other and laughed a tiny bit, just a few small chuckles. This was going nowhere.

“We are far from love experts.” Carter clarified. “And we know zero about gay relationships.” He added on, making Jamie cringe a little bit. “But we are married and we know a little bit about what works with us and what works with them.” This part made Jamie feel a little more comfortable, but not at the same time.

“That’s great and all, guys, but Kevin isn’t anything like you or Camila and Sonia. He’s…loud, outgoing, overbearing, flirty, and really thoughtless.” Jamie told them. In response, both of his brothers-in-law nodded, looking at each other. They were thinking about what to say and Jamie felt like telling them it was fine and that they could leave. 

“Just talk to him.” John finally said and Jamie felt himself tighten up inside. This must have been obvious from the outside as well as John continued. “It doesn’t matter about what. It doesn’t have to be about what happened today; just open up to him about something you don’t normally tell people about. Let him know you and maybe some part of whatever kind of relationship was there will come back.” John explained.

Jamie thought about this. What part of himself did he not tell most people? What was something Barbara, Steven, or Connie didn’t know? There wasn’t much, Jamie was an open book. But then he recalled earlier in the day after Kevin’s attack when Camila and Sonia had sat down beside him and he decided that was the perfect thing to bring up. 

“I think I’ve got it, thanks guys.” Jamie finally said, but when he looked up, they had already left. With that, he laid back down on the bed and began to formulate the story he was going to tell Kevin when he couldn’t get away.

\---

The room was dark. Jamie opened his eyes to find that the lights had been turned off and that it was dark outside the window. He had a single blanket laid over top of him, not one that had been on his bed. There was the sound of rustling beside him and, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark figure crawling onto the makeshift bed on the floor.

Kevin had just come in for bed.

It was finally his chance, he decided. He had spent a good hour deciding what he was going to say when this chance finally came, but as soon as he had it, the words were gone. Kevin stopped shifting under the blankets and the room went quiet save their breathing. How was he going to start it again? What were the first words he was going to use? It had been so eloquent, so articulate, but suddenly, it was all gone. 

More silence.

“Kevin?” Jamie finally opened his mouth to speak and that was all that came out. It was met with silence. He figured he wasn’t going to get an immediate response. Taking a deep breath and letting it out again, he began. 

“I have…had another sister.” Jamie started and there came a rustling of blankets from the floor. He had caught Kevin’s attention. “Her name was Tessa. She was between me and Sonia and she was the most pure person I had ever met.” Jamie continued and he felt himself weaving the story.

It was entirely different from how he had planned it, but that didn’t matter. “When we were younger she had these things about life she just knew. We called them her rants. After she finally compiled a few quotes about something, they became what she said every time the subject arose. They came up so frequently, all three of us could quote her just to tease her about it. She didn’t mind. She loved that we understood what she was saying.” Jamie continued, pausing for a moment to compile his thoughts and move onto the next part.

“What did she rant about?” The question was barely a whisper, almost too quiet to hear. Jamie was surprised. He figured Kevin had been listening, but he hadn’t thought he was interested enough to ask questions. But this made Jamie grin.

“Love, family, friends, and life.” Jamie responded and there was silence. “The one about life she didn’t solidify until she was around twenty-one. Maybe just a bit before. It was just long enough, though, that the three of us memorized it. Not to tease her with it, though.” Jamie explained, feeling his heart tighten as he told the story. “Tessa was diagnosed with stage four cancer when she turned twenty. I was too foggy with grief to really know what cancer, but that it was fatal and she didn’t have very long left. That was when she developed her life rant.” Jamie told Kevin, feeling his throat catch a little as he said this. 

“’Don’t stop moving. Life without movement isn’t life. Money helps you survive, but you can never truly measure success with money. True success is measured by your happiness which is measured by your love, family, and friends.’ And that was where she would begin her rant about those three things.” Jamie quoted, sniffing as he recalled this. “They all kind of tied in together after all those years.” 

For a moment, in the dark room, there was silence. Jamie could feel Kevin taking it all in and Jamie could feel himself breaking down after telling the story all the way through. But it wasn’t over.

“Tessa died a year after her diagnosis. Longer than anticipated, but not long enough. It’s only been three years.” Jamie finished wiping the tears from his eyes as they started to come out freely. For a long moment there was nothing but the sound of his sobbing and Kevin’s breathing.

“Why did you tell me this?” Kevin asked, his voice level and quiet, as if he was trying to remain respectful of Jamie. 

“You’re my friend. You deserve to know.” Jamie responded, sniffing as he sat up to look down where he could see Kevin through the darkness. His eyes had adjusted to the lack of light after having been open for so long and he could make out the faint shape of Kevin’s face as he looked up at him from the mattress.

“But why? I hadn’t even asked about any other siblings. About a secret past that you kept hidden. I didn’t request your tragic back story. It’s not even like Tessa made you who you are! She was just your sister and you’re upset that she died.” Kevin turned his face away from Jamie as he ranted, his voice starting to get a little louder with each word. Jamie glared down at Kevin.

“Tessa did change me! She’s the reason I found theater, the reason I act! If Tessa hadn’t opened me up to the world, I would still be here, clamed up in my room, watching Pride and Prejudice on my computer! She introduced Camila and Sonia to their husbands. I bet you didn’t know that! They were good friends of hers before they met their wives. Tessa rants about life are what guide me. Without that stupid love rant, I wouldn’t even be talking to you right now.” Jamie spat, hoping to injure Kevin to the very depths of his heart. He hated the very person on his floor and yet, he loved every inch of who he was. 

Jamie froze.

He loved every single piece of Kevin, even the parts that pissed him off. Sobbing even harder he dropped his face into his knees, drawing his legs up against his body. Tessa taught him new lessons every day, and he didn’t always want to learn them. He didn’t want to love Kevin: he was a jerk, he was a flirt, he didn’t think before he acted. But he was nice, he had helped Jamie when he was sick, he was paying for whatever care his brother needed. Everything about Kevin drove him nuts: both in annoyance and fondness. 

After ten minutes Jamie felt his eyes dry out and his body stop shaking. The room was silent. Wiping the tears off of his cheeks he looked down and found the mattress beside him empty. He hadn’t noticed Kevin leave, but he wasn’t there anymore. 

“Hate you too.” Jamie muttered angrily into the darkness, rolling over to face the wall and falling asleep almost instantly.

\---

The next morning he was awoken by a gentle shaking on his shoulder. Grumbling at the headache he had developed from the previous night, he rolled over to find Kevin standing over him.

“Hey, if we want to get back before it gets to dark, we should probably leave now.” He said, his gentle, dark eyes looking fondly over Jamie’s face. The look made Jamie feel uncomfortable.

“Alright. I’ll be out in a bit.” He muttered and Kevin left. The room was silent for a moment as the smaller man turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling. There were very thin streams of light entering through the blinds over his window. It was barely morning, the sun was just starting to come up, and Jamie felt as if he had gotten no sleep at all despite having slept most of the previous day.

Slowly he got up, slipping on a new shirt and tucking the one from yesterday into his bag. He had fallen asleep in his regular clothes so he didn’t need to change his pants. Slipping on some socks and tying his shoes he grabbed his bag and headed out to the living room. Isabella and Javier were up with the other four adults, waiting to say goodbye. Kevin was just shaking hands with Javier and heading out the door when Jamie showed up.

“You need to come visit more, Jamie.” Isabella said as he reached her to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. As they pulled away, Jamie promised he would. Hugging both his sisters and shaking hands with his brothers-in-law, he turned and gave his father a firm hug before grabbing his bag and heading for the door.

“Oh, Jamie, the bruise from the rock yesterday isn’t gone yet!” Mrs. Cordero exclaimed and both sisters turned toward each other, looks of panic on their faces. He had rushed off to bed in the middle of dinner and they hadn’t had the chance to touch up the hickey.

Turning the handle and opening the door, Jamie rubbed his hand over the spot where the bruise was. This successfully rubbed off what was left of the foundation. Looking down at the substance on his hand he scoffed at it. 

“Well, mama, hickey’s do last a long time.” And with that he was out the door and headed toward Kevin’s car. He gave his mom a good minute to gather herself before she was out to murder him, so he slid into the passenger seat as calmly as possible.

“Drive.” He instructed Kevin, tossing his bag into the back seat and then buckling himself. Kevin had already put the car into reverse to pull out but had frozen with a look of confusion at Jamie’s demand. “Drive, now. Unless you want to be faced with the full fury of a small, Spanish woman.” Jamie explained, right as Mrs. Cordero came storming from the house, being followed by all five of the other adults. Javier looked just as angry as his wife, but he was attempting to hold her back while the other four shouted, calling to her to calm down.

Kevin peeled out as fast as his beast would allow him to go, down the gravel dirt road and away from the Cordero household. 

Jamie relaxed into the leather seat of Kevin’s car and sighed deeply, allowing the stress to let off and his headache to subside a little. After a little bit of silence, Kevin finally spoke.

“Um, what did you do?” He asked and Jamie laughed. He began to laugh and then couldn’t stop. Had he really just done that? Pissed off his mama by telling her that the bruise was a hickey? She could only make one assumption and that was that Kevin had given him the hickey. It would infuriate her for days and he would never hear the end of it.

“I told her.” Jamie finally got out, pointing to the purple mark on the left side of his neck. Kevin glanced over, making sure to keep his eyes on the road, and turned away, pink in the face, but a grin plastered underneath it.

“You didn’t!” He exclaimed and Jamie laughed some more. Kevin began to die of laughter as well and the two of the howled down the long gravel road toward paved roads. The laughter didn’t last the whole stretch of road and, after a while, they were driving in silence. Jamie hadn’t noticed until then that there wasn’t even any music playing.

“Jamie?” Kevin asked, his face having gone calm and the red having gone out of it. Jamie turned his head lazily in Kevin’s direction, humming a response with a little turn at the end to make it sound like a question.

“I think I’m ready to tell you about Kyle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: What happened to Kyle?


	9. Bad Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin finally tells Jamie about what happened to Kyle as they head home toward the unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is shorter, but it was also really fun to write! Hope you enjoy

The gravel road turned to pavement in the silence of early morning. The light had barely cracked the horizon as the yellow sports car turned carefully onto the main road and began to accelerate to speeds more its style. Kevin hadn’t said anything for several minutes, but Jamie was patient and waited for something to be said. Kevin hadn’t interrupted him the previous night when he had started his story, so he wasn’t going to interrupt Kevin either.

“I guess I should start at the very beginning.” Kevin finally spoke and Jamie looked over at him slightly, trying not to seem too intent on hearing the story. When Kevin noticed his gaze he turned his eyes slightly away, trying his best to keep them on the road at the same time. Jamie looked back ahead of himself. Kevin was clearly uncomfortable.

“Kyle was born when I was three. I barely remember when it happened, but my parents said I was really excited to have a baby brother.” Kevin continued, finding his rhythm with the sound of the engine. This story seemed like it would take a while, so Jamie settled himself in and listened.

“Despite the age gap, Kyle and I were best friends. We got along far better than our parents expected. I taught him what I learned in school and he taught me how to have fun. Having lived along for four years, apparently I wasn’t very good at it.” This got Kevin to laugh just a little bit, but it was a sad, nostalgic laugh and not something caused by joy. “By the time he entered school; he was a year above his grade and skipped without any issues. Even then, he was still smarter than most kids in his class.”

“In our free time we would explore the park nearby, make up games that no one else knew how to play, invented a secret handshake and language, and put on shows for our parents. He was always the lead singer and I was his backup dancer. Kyle had a beautiful voice, but no matter how much we told him that, he always insisted I have center stage because I was far better at dancing.” Kevin retold this as if recalling the memory of it on the spot. 

Jamie imagined nine year-old Kevin and six year-old Kyle putting on shows for their parents. It was cute to think about as Kevin continued the story from there.

“By the time I was eleven, Kyle was insisting I take dance lessons. He said I was that good, and that I could be better than anyone in the world if I learned more. I told him that if I took dancing lessons, he took singing lessons. He was more than open to that condition and we started a few months later, when I turned twelve.” Kevin continued, taking the turn onto the freeway once they reached it. 

For a moment there was silence as Kevin focused on getting them onto the freeway without crashing. He was concentrating so hard, Jamie felt it would be bad to interrupt him. Plus, he didn’t really have questions like Kevin had the previous night. He was explaining everything rather clearly.

“Other than school and work, that’s what we’d been doing for the last several years. Kyle graduated two years ago and I’ve been out of school for five.” Kevin sounded like this was the end of the story. Jamie knew there had to be more, but he didn’t pry because Kevin seemed to be taking his time arriving at the end.

That was when Jamie finally turned to look at Kevin.

The taller man had taken a deep, shaky breath and the sound had drawn Jamie’s gaze. There were tears streaming down his face and Kevin was shaking. He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his dark knuckles had started to turn shades lighter. Jamie felt a pang in his heart at the sight. Kevin had never cried in front of him. He’d yelled, gotten angry, and blown up over various subjects: but he had never cried. 

“A year ago we were driving to a party. One of Sour Cream’s gigs when the kid was still getting started.” Kevin managed to say before taking a large, gulping breath as if he had been suffocating himself by speaking. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and a large stream of tears trickled down his cheeks. They began to drift into another lane and Jamie reached his hand forward to steady the wheel. Kevin opened his eyes again and looked toward Jamie, telling him without words to let go. Jamie did so.

“I had decided I wanted to take the scenic route, to have fun with it. We were going well over the speed limit. I should have stopped. Kyle kept telling me to slow down, but I wouldn’t listen.” Kevin sobbed some more, the vehicle clearly slowing down as he told the story through shaky breaths and watery eyes.

“We were coming up on an intersection that had a red light. There was no one there, why would the light be red? I told Kyle I was going to run the red, why wouldn’t I? Even if we got caught, a ticket would barely dent the wealth my parents possessed.” Kevin added on, his breaths calming but his voice getting louder. It was almost as if he was yelling at himself.

“I ran it, against Kyle’s wishes. The light had been red because a few cars had passed through before us, that’s what the police said later. It had remained red because no one had shown up yet. It was almost as if it could sense the semi-truck coming-“ Kevin’s voice cracked and he coughed once. “Coming full speed toward the intersection. It didn’t stop because it couldn’t. We were T-boned at full speed. Naturally, the driver put on the breaks the instant he could, but it was already too late.” Kevin spat these last words, as if scolding himself for having done it. For having been stupid enough to run a red in the middle of the night with his brother in the passenger seat.

“Kevin took the full force of the hit, since my car was never built to withstand that much force. I got away with very little injuries. A broken leg, I think that was it. But Kyle dropped instantly into a coma. There was blood everywhere. I couldn’t-“ Kevin gasped for another breath and choked again, coughing harder this time. “I couldn’t do anything. I had frozen in place, staring at what was supposed to be my brother. The truck driver called the ambulance. He felt as bad as I did, so guilty.” Kevin pulled the car into the carpool lane and began to slow down. Early morning traffic was light in the middle of nowhere.

“My mom forgave him a few months ago when he came to us to apologize. He felt so much lighter. Said he would never forget it but that he could move on and not focus on it anymore.” Kevin tagged on, taking a single hand off the wheel and wiping the tears from one of his eyes. He sniffed heavily and coughed when the sudden burst of air caught in his throat.

There was no sound except the engine and Kevin’s attempts to stifle his sobbing for several minutes. The open road continued to expand before them, taking gentle turns and then unfolding into long straighaways. Jamie had no idea what he was supposed to do to help, this was basically where the story ended. He was able to fill in the spaces from what he had learned spending time with Kevin.

“I took a job to help pay for his care. It was my fault after all.” Kevin finished, his voice clearer than it had been for most of the story. Jamie glanced over and noticed how red his eyes were, that he had taken a look of intense anger onto his face, and that he was looking straight ahead.

“Kevin, you shouldn’t-“ Jamie began but was instantly cut off by Kevin’s angry voice.

“Shouldn’t blame myself? Why, Jamie? Why shouldn’t I blame myself when I was the one driving? I ran the red light! I was speeding! I could have avoided it if I had just listened to him!” Kevin shouted stomping angrily on the accelerator and throwing Jamie backward into his seat. The car shot down the freeway, taking the first turn like and angry beast on the hunt. Kevin showed no signs of slowing down and Jamie felt fear rise in his chest.

“Kevin. Kevin slow down.” Jamie pleaded, watching as they came up behind another car in the carpool lane. There was no going around them, as every lane beside them had a car in it somewhere that prevented passing.

The car practically stopped.

Jamie looked over to see that Kevin had taken his foot off the accelerator and was gently easing it onto the brake. Kevin was breathing heavily and the tears had begun to stream down his face again. Jamie, too, was panting from the adrenaline his body had suddenly shot into him.

“Kevin, pull over at the next exit. I’m driving.” Jamie instructed and Kevin did as he said, looking for openings to make it into the farthest lane and onto the ramp. They pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot and stopped. When they got out of the car Kevin didn’t look at Jamie at all. He simply stared at the ground and went to brush passed him.

Jamie wasn’t going to allow that.

When they crossed paths at the front of the car, Jamie attacked Kevin with a hug, wrapping his arms around the taller man’s body and holding him tightly. He buried his face into Kevin’s shoulder, right at the nook between his neck and collar bone. Kevin heaved more sobs into Jamie’s back, wrapping his own arms around his smaller companion.

“It’s not your fault, Kevin. Stop blaming yourself. Kyle will be just fine. Stop beating yourself up over it.” Jamie whispered, lifting his head up so he could whisper this into Kevin’s ear, making himself heard. This successfully caused Kevin to sob harder. For a good three minutes or more they stood there, catching stares from the few early morning travelers going in and out of the McDonald’s they stood before.

“C’mon, we should go.” Jamie whispered, sliding his arms down Kevin’s back to signal that he was going to let go. Kevin followed suit, dropping his arm’s from Jamie’s back and brushing passed him to get into the passenger side of the car.

As Kevin walked away, Jamie brushed his hand down his arm, gripping the tips of his fingers in a tight squeeze quickly before heading toward the driver’s seat where he paused at the door, looking up at the sky and silently praying that Kyle would be alright. That Kevin would stop blaming himself.

Sliding into the driver’s seat he buckled himself in and put the car in reverse, backing up a little too slowly for the kind of car he was driving. He was still getting used to it. He managed to make it back onto the freeway, barely recalling what Kevin had taught him a couple of days ago. He was on his own, since Kevin was still sobbing in the passenger seat, barely functioning.

For an hour they drove like this. Kevin fell asleep after half an hour and Jamie turned the music on very low. He needed some kind of sound other than Kevin’s breathing, especially since it was still wracked slightly with his crying. After another half hour Kevin took a breath that signaled he was awake. Snorting slightly as he opened his eyes, he blinked into the rising sun and sat up straight in his seat. 

Staring straight ahead, he felt himself start to break down again.

Instead of falling back into sobs, he took a deep breath. It was shaky, but it helped. He did this several more times until he was sure he was done beating himself up over the breakdown. He had told someone else the story. He thought he would be ready for it, that he’d get through it without breaking down. But after the weekend he had had and the fact that he cared about Jamie, he had broken down anyway.

And then he had been stupid enough to get angry at himself and speed up. 

After reminding himself of this he had to take a few more shaky breaths, not even realizing that Jamie was paying close attention to him while looking at the road. After he had finally calmed himself down the second time he looked over at Jamie, who had stopped glancing at him every five seconds and had resorted to every twenty. 

“I’m sorry.” Kevin finally said as Jamie looked right into his red eyes. There were bags beneath them and they drooped slightly with exhaustion. Jamie grinned right through the pain of seeing Kevin like this.

“It’s fine! I’m good now. But are you okay?” Jamie asked, turning his face back to the road, waving a hand at Kevin to brush him off before asking his question. Kevin finally turned away from Jamie and sighed. 

“I…I’m better.” Kevin responded after a moment of thought. Jamie nodded, glad that this was the response. He hadn’t expected Kevin to say he was fine, that was a long shot. Clearly he wasn’t fine. But now he was better, which was definitely what Jamie wanted to hear.

“Good. Now I’m hungry. What are we getting for breakfast?” He asked and Kevin couldn’t help but laugh, his mind taken off of his mental state for a moment as he considered the question seriously. 

They pulled off the freeway five minutes later to drive through McDonald’s and grab some food. Jamie insisted on getting more hash browns than was necessary, dubbing them the best things in the world. Kevin laughed and retorted that Burger King’s were far superior, stopping at the fast food joint across the street to order some just to prove it.

As Jamie agreed that he was right, bite size hash browns were good, they pulled back onto the freeway, Kevin driving again. The music was turned up as they ate and the two sang along to the song as they chewed, laughing hysterically at the sound of themselves singing and eating at the same time. 

After they finished eating the music was turned down and Jamie began telling stories of his mama when he was younger, dealing with his sisters and their boyfriends. He told Kevin the story of the first hickey and how Sonia had come home with one on the back of her neck. Camila had cooed over it, proud of her younger sister, while Jamie had ogled over the odd looking bruise and Tessa had laughed about the whole thing.

Kevin told Jamie of the trip to Italy, the last family trip before the accident. Kevin and Kyle had gotten lost together in the streets of Venice on their first day sightseeing and had ended up asking every Italian how to get back to the hotel. They had finally found a girl who spoke enough English to get them back. She ended up spending most of the trip with them, but Kevin told Jamie that her and Kyle had been better friends and that they became pen pals after the trip was over.

To top his story, Jamie told of how Tessa met John and Carter. Being two years older than Jamie, she had headed off to college earlier. She’d gone out of state and so met many new and interesting people. One weekend, Camila and Sonia decided they wanted to visit her. They stopped by the family home and scooped Jamie up. They found Sonia at someone else’s apartment, playing spin the bottle. Naturally, Camila and Sonia had to join in. Jamie avoided the game as he watched girls kissing guys and girls and vice versa. He refused to be caught up in something like that. 

John and Carter had been at the party and had been the first spins Camila and Sonia had landed on. After the game was over, Sonia formally introduced them. That was how magic happened. Camila was married a year later, Sonia two. 

“And that was all while she was still eighteen.” Jamie finished with a flourish, recalling the day they had all come home to an angry mother and a scolding father. Camila and Sonia had spent the next day telling their mother about the boys they had met and their mama finally calmed down when she realized her girls were falling in love. Jamie continued to be scolded despite never having done anything. 

As they stopped for lunch, Kevin told the story of the Lilo and Stitch costumes from what he could remember of them. 

“I’d seen the movie earlier that year and was obsessed. My parents say I could quote it word for word before Halloween even rolled around.” Kevin laughed, adding dramatic hand gestures as he spoke. He had insisted that he be Lilo because Kyle was smaller and made a better stitch than he did. 

“The Halloween before the accident, Kyle and I redid the costume choice. We never got around to putting the picture up, though. I’ll have to show you when we get back to Beach City.” Kevin laughed, this laugh nostalgic, but filled with joy instead of sadness. It made Jamie happy to see the smile back on Kevin’s face. He was as lively as ever as they told life stories. 

After they got back on the road they got out a couple more stories before Jamie fell asleep while Kevin told the story of the family vacation to China. When Kevin finally realized Jamie was asleep, he turned down the music just a bit and hummed along quietly. He had never felt happier in his life, glad that him and Jamie were getting along again.

As these thoughts reached the surface of his mind he recalled what he had said on the hill after their make-out session. His smile vanished slowly as he remembered that he promised to leave if Jamie didn’t resolve the issue inside of him. 

The rest of the ride until they reached the outskirts of the city was silent. When Jamie finally stirred, Kevin was still silent, thinking about what he was going to do. His brother was at a hospital in the city next to Beach City. It was bigger and nicer, allowing for better care. It wasn’t too far away, but it was out of the way. If he moved there, he would be closer to Kyle but still out of Beach City.

“What are you thinking?” Jamie asked, his sleepy voice trailed with teasing content as he asked. Kevin turned to glance at Jamie quickly, his face still slightly solemn, but with a fake smile playing at the corner of his lips.

“Just where I’m going to move once we get back.” Kevin responded and he felt Jamie’s attitude sink as he said it. He didn’t enjoy seeing that look on the Spanish man’s face out of the corner of his eye, but he had sworn to move out of Beach City if Jamie hadn’t resolved what was inside of him and admitted to being gay.

“Are you really going to move?” Jamie asked after a few moments of silence. Kevin nodded, knowing Jamie was looking right at him. For the next several minutes, neither of them said anything. Kevin could tell Jamie was working it through in his mind. But he didn’t say anything to resolve the issue and so it was dropped.

As they entered the city limits, Kevin headed around the city toward his house.

“Um, I live over there.” Jamie pointed dumbly toward the large warehouse and the apartments behind it. It was completely dark, so Sour Cream wasn’t throwing a rave. 

“I know. I thought we’d stop by my house and see that picture of the recent Lilo and Stitch costumes.” Kevin offered, his voice playing lightly despite the previous conversation. Jamie laughed at this and nodded.

“Alright. I’m fine with that as long as we get food while we’re there.” Jamie responded and it was Kevin’s turn to laugh. He added on a nod when he thought about it.

“Of course. I wouldn’t want to leave you starving in that sad little apartment of yours.” Kevin added on and Jamie laughed again. It was a war of snarky comments now, and Jamie was enjoying the light hearted banter.

“You know what, on second thought, I don’t want to see that picture. No one insults my apartment.” Jamie muttered, pretending to be indignant but not passing very well as he had a big grin on his face. Kevin scoffed, showing off his superior teasing skills as he responded.

“Please, that isn’t even an apartment. It’s a two car garage with a few walls put in.” He remarked and Jamie held back a laugh at this. What Kevin said was true. It was badly insulated and not much bigger than what he said. 

“You know what. Turn around now. I don’t want your food.” Jamie insisted with a light hearted tone. He was having trouble pretending to be serious when he knew they were only joking. Clearly Kevin was having a little trouble too, as he laughed when Jamie said this.

“You have no choice in the matter. I’m the one driving.” Kevin responded and Jamie turned toward him, his eyes wide with shock, gasping at this remark. Kevin had to duck his head away slightly to avoid dying of laughter at the look on his face. Jamie, too, was having trouble holding it.

“Is this a kidnapping?” He asked, pretend shock melting away beneath the clear amusement in his tone. Kevin cracked a bit, laughing slightly.

“I do believe it is, baby, and you’re coming with me.” Kevin joked as he pulled up the long driveway toward his house. Jamie laughed and pretended to bang on the window.

“Oh my! Let me out! I don’t want to die like this.” Jamie laughed, looking back at Kevin and trying to put on a frightened look. Kevin was having too much fun as they pulled to a stop before the large Hoapili household.

“Stop being such a drama queen, it’s not like I’m going to eat you for dinner.” At this idea, Kevin gasped, turning to Jamie who had already unbuckled himself. “That’s actually a really good idea!” He exclaimed, lunging forward and pretending to bite Jamie on the neck.

There was a small squeal from the man beneath him as he tried to laugh and push Kevin off. As the taller man made pretend eating sounds and went back in for another bite he felt his lips make contact with Jamie’s skin and his face heated up.

Quickly he backed off and realized Jamie was flushed red from the action as well. Coughing slightly, Kevin looked away and got out of the car. As Jamie followed suit, he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. 

“Um, looks like you’re free to go. If you don’t mind walking, that is.” Kevin joked, laughing slightly at this to try and play off the whole eating Jamie thing. Jamie laughed back, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You know, on second thought, the food and picture don’t sound so bad.” He responded and Kevin looked up at him. They both laughed nervously at the looks they gave each other before Kevin was attacked.

“Kevin! Where is your phone!?” His mom shouted, racing down the front stairs toward Kevin. Her hair was frazzled and her eyes lacked the life of one who had gotten enough sleep the previous night.

“In my bag, mom. What’s wrong?” He asked as she lunged herself toward the car and into her son’s arms. Sobbing into him she finally pulled away and looked up.

“Kyle’s awake!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter guys! I had hoped this would be longer, but I suppose the next chapter is probably the right place to end it. One day I will go through and fix all of my mistakes. One day...


	10. Good Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle's finally awake, but it's not exactly what Kevin expected. Now Jamie has to hunt him down and remain awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, guys, it's finally over. I didn't expect it to be so short, but here it is! The last chapter! It's longer than the others, but that's alright, it deserved it.

The sleek yellow beast raced down the long, winding back roads toward the neighboring city, the lights up ahead playing to the music on the radio. Zipping around a bend, the passengers were thrown toward one side of the car, shouting at the driver to slow down just a little bit. But they knew this wouldn’t be possible, considering the driver’s motivation for speeding.

After a year, Kyle had finally woken up.

Upon hearing those words escape his mom’s mouth, Kevin had jumped back into the car and started the engine. Instantly, Jamie slipped back in, but was forced to the back when Julie insisted she join them. The back seat was far more spacious than Jamie had originally thought it was going to be, but with his bag being thrown around beside him, he wasn’t having an easy time.

Kevin shot down the long roads toward the hospital he had said Kyle was being kept at. They had already had a long day and Jamie was afraid Kevin was going to overwork himself. Another part of him was afraid of the story Kevin had told. What had happened that night could easily happen again, and this time Kevin would have two people to worry about.

But it seemed luck was mostly on their side. As they raced along the silent streets toward the lights of the city, there was no sign of the lights from other cars. The black asphalt only lit up when Kevin’s sports car glared at the road ahead. There were no street lights to light their way, so Kevin was lead only by the memory he had of how to get there.

Based on his speed, he had been there a few too many times.

Jamie was thrown toward the right of the car and his bag was launched right into his side. Coughing lightly he thanked his past self for not packing any extra pairs of shoes. There wasn’t anything particularly heavy in his bag to injure himself with. 

After first getting back in, it had taken him several tries to click his seatbelt with Kevin’s driving. Several times he had jammed the metal end of the belt into his hand, sure to cause bruising later. He had only managed to click it into place once Kevin had been forced to stop at a red light. It was a good thing he was still in the right mindset to obey most of the traffic laws.

As they drew nearer to the city, Jamie noticed Kevin force himself to slow down; obeying the speed laws as they finally hit the city limits. Within seconds they were surrounded by tall buildings and bright lights. The streets were extremely packed with pedestrians, taxis, and bikers. Kevin cursed under his breath as they crawled through the streets, getting nowhere in five minutes flat.

“It’s Black Friday, Kevin. You can’t expect them to go much faster.” His explained calmly and Kevin nodded, calming down surprisingly quickly. Jamie watched as his tensed shoulders relaxed and he leaned back into the seat. His brother had just woken up from a full year coma, he was clearly panicking about getting to see him, but the will power he held was amazing. 

Jamie enjoyed seeing Kevin as he really was.

As they meandered across intersections and through traffic, Jamie watched the busy streets outside and the pedestrians, going about their night as if it was nothing. How similar he and Kevin had been only ten minutes ago, laughing and joking and enjoying themselves on the long car ride home. It was almost surreal to think how quickly life changed.

With a swift turn, Kevin shot into a parking garage and Jamie realized they were finally there. It took five seconds to find a good parking space and then Kevin shot out of the car, quickly followed by his mom. Jamie struggled to figure out how to get passed the passenger seat and then had to jog to catch up to the two Hoapili’s. 

When he finally found his place beside Kevin, he felt the warmth of a hand slip into his. Looking down he noticed Kevin had grabbed his hand and was squeezing it rather tightly. Ignoring the rise of heat to his face, Jamie held out against the five billion feelings and thoughts that rushed to his head. Kevin needed him now, he wasn’t going to start some fight or argument over holding his hand. 

As they entered the hospital, several people glanced over at the group of three entering the hospital: a small Asian woman, a tall man with dark skin, and a slightly shorter man holding his hand. It was definitely an interesting group. 

Mrs. Hoapili approached the front desk first and requested to see her son. When the man at the front glanced at the other two accompanying her, his eyes took on an apologetic look.

“Family only, right now.” He explained, and Mrs. Hoapili nodded in understanding. Kevin turned to Jamie, hand still in hand, and looked down at him. For a moment, all he did was search Jamie’s eyes and face, as if looking for something. 

“Thank you.” He whispered quickly, before leaning forward, giving Jamie a small kiss on the cheek, and then following his mom deeper into the hospital. 

Jamie was alone.

For the first several minutes after the two left, Jamie didn’t have an immediate plan of action. Standing in place, absently holding his hand up against his cheek, he stared after them as if entirely lost in thought. It wasn’t until a friendly lady – a nurse? – approached him and asked if he needed any help that he realized he looked a little dumb standing there.

Shaking his head and telling her he was fine, he found an empty seat – it was empty in the lobby – and sat down. For another several moments he waited, still thinking back to that fact that Kevin had kissed him on the cheek. It was a tame form of Kevin being Kevin, and more like something Jamie didn’t see Kevin doing. It distracted him for the time being, bringing up the thing he knew they would have to discuss eventually.

That was when Jamie finally formulated what he was going to say to Kevin in his mind. The instant Kevin was feeling better and the whole thing with Kyle had been officially solved, he was going to talk to Kevin about the events of the weekend. That sounded right. 

So he formed the exact words in his mind as he waited.

And waited.

And still waited until he felt himself falling asleep. Not wanting to fall asleep when he knew his friend was going to need him the instant he came back down stairs, he thought about stopping at a coffee shop nearby and getting something to drink. Standing up and stretching he turned his body toward the exit and realized that there was a sign on the wall pointing to the dining area. Maybe they had coffee there.

Tentatively he walked toward the hallway with the sign and followed the sounds of clinking silverware and dishes. As the calming chatter came to its full volume, he walked right into the fairly empty dining area. There were a few patients here and there, most of the people were doctors or nurses, getting late dinners. Across the room, right passed the largest table of doctors and nurses, was the coffee machine.

Crossing the room, he looked about warily and noticed a board above the large open window to his right. It listed off prices for everything in the buffet below it. It made special note to inform patients that they didn’t have to pay. It was probably already paid for by whoever was paying for their stay at the hospital, Jamie thought. Right under drinks below water and the juices was coffee. 

Feeling better about getting coffee from the hospital, he approached the back table where the machine sat and began to pour coffee into three cups. He wasn’t going to be the only one staying up late. As he was putting lids on the cups he realized that Mr. Hoapili hadn’t been at the house and created a fourth cup as an afterthought. He must already be there.

Juggling four cups of coffee was hard enough, so he shoved creamers and sugar packets into his pockets, hoping this was good enough for the Hoapili’s when they got back. Struggling to the check out he set down the cups and began digging out his wallet.

“That’s a lot of coffee.” Joked the man standing at the register. Jamie let out a half-hearted chuckled, attempting to sound slightly interested.

“They’re not all for me.” He responded, trying to sound lighthearted but feeling more tired than ever now that he had to talk to someone. He just wanted to sit and wait for Kevin to get back so he could hear about Kyle.

“Oh yeah? Who’re they for, then?” The man asked as he took Jamie’s card and swiped it along the keypad he had. It looked like this conversation was going to be longer than Jamie wanted it to be.

“Um, a friend and his family. His brother is here and I just happened to be in the car.” He responded, hoping that would put the guy off enough to let him leave. As the guy appeared to be contemplating his response, Jamie reached to take the cups. 

“His brother, huh? Maybe I know him. What’s the name?” He asked, reaching under his table to grab something off of a hidden shelf. Jamie sighed when his head ducked below and rubbed his temples to calm himself down. He was so tired.

“Kyle. Kyle Hoapili.” He responded, trying his best to sound tired but not annoyed so he could move on faster. As the guy came back up, another thoughtful look on his face, he brought with him a cup holder with four places. Jamie almost grinned at this, relieved to not need to carry all four cups separately. 

“Hmm, sounds vaguely familiar. He’s never been down here, though.” The man commented, putting the four cups into the holder before Jamie could even move to do it himself. Despite his talky nature, this man was a good break from the worried sitting Jamie had been doing for the last hour or two.

“Yeah, well, he’s been in a coma for a year, so it would be really hard to come down here.” Jamie commented, grabbing the cup holder once all of the cups had been placed. The look in the man’s eye lit up and he pointed a finger at Jamie.

“That’s right! Kyle’s the coma kid! I’ve been preparing his meals for a year now. Wow, so he’s awake, huh?” The man leaned over onto his counter, prepared to have a long chat with Jamie. Tired eyes drooping slightly, Jamie nodded.

“Yeah. Kevin and I just got back from spending Thanksgiving at my house and that was the first thing his mom told him.” Jamie responded, removing a hand from the cup holder to rub the sleep from his eyes. He needed to stay awake long enough to get back to the chair and drink his coffee.

“Wow, that’s crazy. Hey, you look like you need that coffee, so I’m gonna leave that to you. Have a nice night, I hope Kyle’s alright!” He said, patting Jamie on the back to send him on his way. With a tired wave, Jamie made his way back down the hallway and into the waiting room. 

It was still as empty as ever, so he retook his seat and popped open the lid on one of the coffee cups, dumping some creamer and sugar into it and mixing it with a straw. Closing it back up he took a sip and reveled in the sweet, delicious taste of his coffee. It wasn’t his usual cup, but it sure was good. 

For the next couple of hours he sat on his own, messing with his coffee, swishing it around in the cup, and making sure the other three cups were still warm. After nearly dozing off three times he stood and paced the room, trying to keep himself awake. 

After his third time around the room the man from the register came down the hallway to the dining area, stopping in place when he saw Jamie.

“Whoa, you’re still here?” He asked when Jamie saw him and began to approach, bored of sitting around and doing nothing. Even a chatty cashier was better than waiting for Kevin to get back.

“Yeah. They’ve been up there for a long time.” Jamie responded, running a hand through his shaggy hair, realizing that it must have been a mess after the day he’d had. He must just look awful, he figured, dragging his hands down his face as if it would help him wake up.

“Geez. Hey, those coffees gotta be cold. Why don’t I heat them up for ya?” The guy asked, pointing to the cup holder with the three coffees still sitting in them. Jamie had long since thrown his out and dumped the creamers all over the chair beside the other three.

“No, it’s fine.” Jamie responded, waving a lazy hand at him to ward him off. The guy threw up a hand and waved it in a similar fashion.

“Please, I’m going home and you’re stuck here for another who knows how long. It’s my pleasure.” The guy commented, heading toward the chair with the coffees before Jamie was able to say anything. Without protesting, Jamie watched as he walked off with the coffees back down the hallway and then came back ten minutes later.

“Thanks.” Jamie said when he handed them back, the entire carton warm from the heat of the cups. 

“It’s not a problem. You have a nice night, okay?” The man said, waving at Jamie before turning to exit the building. Jamie was still waving a minute later when the swinging doors behind him slammed open. Turning swiftly he found Kevin coming out of the hallway beyond and straight toward him.

“Hey, Kevin! I got coffee! I wasn’t sure if-“ But he was cut off when Kevin brushed right passed him and out the sliding doors toward the parking garage. Mrs. Hoapili appeared beside him, followed closely by Mr. Hoapili.

“Sorry, Jamie. He’s not in a very good mood. But thank you so much. I do need a good cup.” Julie commented, grabbing one of the cups off the holder. 

“Uh, alright. Um, I got creamer and sugar, since I didn’t know how you like your coffee.” He commented, still glancing out the door as he gestured toward the chair where the pile of creamers and sugars sat. 

Lewis laughed at this, thanked Jamie as well, and grabbed some of the packets off the chair. His wife followed suit.

“You can ride home with us.” Mrs. Hoapili offered as Jamie grabbed the rest of the creamers and sugars and threw out the carton, leaving himself with Kevin’s coffee.

“If it’s alright, you can stay in the guest room. We’re beat.” Lewis offered as Jamie opened his mouth to respond to Mrs. Hoapili. Jamie nodded realizing he was probably just as beat as they were, if not just a little less. 

The three exited the hospital and headed toward the parking garage. As they headed inside the yellow beast came whipping out of it and down the road. Jamie watched it go, lost in thought and grogginess. 

The ride with the Hoapili’s was uneventful and they were back at the mansion in no time. The yellow beast wasn’t there when they arrived and Jamie felt his heart sink. Where was Kevin?

They all headed inside and Mrs. Hoapili proceeded to show Jamie where the guest room was, the bathroom that was attached to it, and then gave him a pair of sweats and a sweater from Kevin’s room.

“I’m not making you sleep in those and, since Kevin isn’t back, your stuff isn’t here.” She explained, dumping the clothes into Jamie’s arms. He smiled shyly at her and nodded.

“Thank you.” He muttered before she told him not to mention it and then left the room. It was almost as big as Kevin’s but far emptier. Jamie felt alone, like something was missing. Setting the clothes onto the bed he grabbed the cup of coffee and headed toward where he recalled Kevin’s room being.

It was just as he remembered it. Something about it was warmer and more welcoming than the guest room. It was likely because it was lived in, though the walls lacked the personality Jamie’s bedroom back home did. 

Quietly, as if trying not to disturb a sleeping person, he set the coffee down on the bedside table and dumped the creamers and sugars beside it. With a sigh, he brushed his hand over its wood and then left the room. 

With exhaustion he dropped onto the bed and was out before he could will himself to get up and change. 

\---

Jamie rose out of sleep slowly, feeling like he was on a cloud. Faster than the previous time, however, he recognized it as a bed in the Hoapili household. It was warm and comforting and he knew he would have to leave it soon if he was going to stop intruding on their hospitality. Groggily he opened his eyes and stared at the barren, white ceiling above him. It was a dark grey in the unlit room and posed a harsher awakening than Kevin’s room had.

Rolling himself over onto his side he twisted the blanket on top of him around his legs, making it hard to move. Creasing his brow he realized that the blanket hadn’t been there last night when he had fallen asleep. Someone had to have put it on him sometime while he slept. 

It was as if he was one of their own.

Rubbing sleep out of his eyes and stretching where he lay he thought about what he was going to do. Kevin might still be angry and it had to be close to midday. Since it was Saturday he didn’t have work and the day just posed an empty black hole before him. 

Throwing the blanket off of him he rolled out of the bed. Sighing with relief he realized that he hadn’t been changed into new clothes. Whoever had put the blanket on him had not had the nerve to undress him. Thank goodness.

Slowly he dropped his feet over the edge of the bed and, for a minute, just stared at the floor beneath his feet. As he was staring, there came a knock from the door and slowly it was opened. The face of Julie Hoapili presented itself in the crack of light that entered the room.

“Ah, you’re up! I’ve made brunch, if you want some.” She informed him. The corners of his mouth turned up when she used the word brunch. But taking some of their food seemed like too much.

“I’m fine, thank you though.” Jamie muttered in response, realizing he should probably go home or try and talk to Kevin. Julie smiled as if she understood.

“Then I’ll prepare a ‘to go’ box.” She told him before slipping out of the crack and closing the door behind her. She was too fast for Jamie to protest and he found himself staring at the door with a surprised look, sitting in the middle of a dark room. 

After finally collecting himself he slid off the bed and headed toward the door. As he slid out of the room, the harsh light hit him in the face and he had to blink into it. Once his eyes adjusted to the light he headed toward the stairs, remembering where the kitchen was. He found Mrs. Hoapili packing a brown paper bag with boxes of food.

“You don’t have to do that.” Jamie told her, feeling guilty as he watched her pack the bag with the food. She turned when she heard him speak and clicked her tongue at him.

“Oh, but I do. It’s my job.” She said, grabbing two brown bags off the table and handing them to Jamie. “As a mom.” She added on as Jamie took the two bags, looking down at the second with confusion.

“I don’t need this much.” Jamie told her, holding out the second one to give it back. Julie pushed it back toward him instead and gave him a knowing smile.

“You’ll need it.” It was extremely cryptic the way she said it, but Jamie shrugged it off. His mother had the same way of acting strange, like she knew something he didn’t. With that she gave him a hug he couldn’t escape and then he shook hands with Mr. Hoapili.

The two showed him out the door despite his further protests against it. As he walked down the driveway he noticed the yellow beast wasn’t out front. Kevin wasn’t home. 

\---

The walk home was calming, though a bit longer than Jamie had anticipated. Several times during the trek downhill he regretted insisting he walk home. They could have easily gotten him home faster in their car than his legs could take him. But he supposed walking wasn’t all that bad. 

He had missed being able to do it for long periods of time. That weekend was too long of a break off of work. He really needed walking in his life. He was able to clear his head and think everything through that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Why had Mrs. Hoapili given him a second bag of food? How was Kyle doing? What would Kevin say to what he had planned to tell him?

There was so much to think about, he barely noticed when he finally came up on the warehouse where Sour Cream held most of his raves. It was only drawn to his attention was he spotted something he hadn’t expected to see sitting out front.

The yellow beast.

Jamie’s spirits lifted the instant he saw it and his nerves shot up immediately after. All of the things he had been wondering about could be answered through Kevin. Somehow, Mrs. Hoapili knew he would find her son and she had given him a second bag so Kevin would have something to eat.

Mothers, they had strange powers.

Hesitantly he made his way toward the warehouse and entered through one of the large holes in one of the walls. There was something surreal about it in the middle of the day. Without the dark, black light going the whole place was lit from midday lighting. Rays of late November sun streamed across the floor and stretched up the far wall. There were light shadows thrown here and there and, for a moment, Jamie was stuck on its appearance.

Then he heard a noise.

Turning he spotted the form of a person, crouched over, shoulders up to their ears, kneeling against the hard tile of the warehouse floor. For a moment, Jamie forgot why he was here and didn’t instantly recognize the coco skin and dark brown hair from behind.

“Hello?” He called, taking a couple of steps closer; feeling déjà vu take over instantly. The simple, regular boy clothes Kevin had been wearing the previous day stood out against the memory of a dream.

“Leave me alone.” A voice sobbed and instantly Jamie recalled what he had been doing and why he was here. Kevin needed him. Jamie needed Kevin. If they didn’t have each other, they would both collapse.

“Kevin, it’s Jamie.” He called, voice softer this time. He felt the déjà vu wearing thin as the words from the dream changed and the very obvious feeling of two, brown paper bags in his hands stood out against the lack of other feelings.

“I said, leave me alone!” Kevin hissed, head flicking slightly in Jamie’s direction, his anger building clearly through his body language. Jamie didn’t back down, however, and continued to move closer. 

“Kevin, I can help. Let me help.” Jamie came up behind Kevin and set down the bags, resting one hand on Kevin’s shoulder. Instantly Jamie felt Kevin’s muscles tense and the taller boy whipped around. Everything went in slow motion when Kevin miscalculated how close Jamie was and ended up ramming him in the stomach with his shoulder, successfully knocking him backward. The smaller man landed with a thud against the cracked tile of the warehouse and Kevin began to panic.

“Jamie! Oh my gosh, Jamie!” Kevin leaned into Jamie’s vision as he crouched down and grabbed him into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Jamie. I’m so-“ his voice broke “-I’m so sorry.” The sobs kept wracking Kevin’s shoulders as Jamie’s vision faded entirely.

“Jamie?” Kevin was still sobbing, repeating his name over and over again when Jamie came to only seconds after his vision blacked out. Blinking rapidly at the feeling of blood rushing back to his head he coughed.

“Jamie! Thank goodness you’re okay!” Kevin exclaimed, dragging Jamie in for a tight hug. Awkwardly, Jamie let him hold him, not sure what to do. That was, until he stopped being able to breathe.

“Kevin. Kevin, I can’t breathe.” Jamie muttered into his ear and Kevin let go of him. Jamie was able to hold himself up with his hands once they were freed from Kevin’s hug trap.

“Sorry.” Kevin sobbed, brushing the tears from his eyes as Jamie pulled himself into a crisscross position and faced Kevin.

“Why have you been running?” Jamie asked and Kevin looked away from him, his dark eyes shadowed by his dark hair, hidden from Jamie’s view. Instead of prompting a second or third time, Jamie just waited silently for Kevin to respond. Luckily, he eventually did.

“When Kyle woke up, he felt pain. The doctors said he woke up screaming and they had to put him under. They took some X-rays and found the problem. He was heading into surgery when we got there last night.” Kevin explained, not looking up from his gaze at the floor. Jamie didn’t prompt him to move his gaze, understanding his reasons for looking down. 

“When he finally came out, they told us we had to leave. Kyle wasn’t going to be awake for several more hours and it was pointless to tire ourselves out further by waiting for him to wake, they said.” Kevin spat this last line angrily, but his sobs came back as he did so. 

“That makes sense. You look like crap right now, and I don’t think Kyle would want to see that.” Jamie explained and Kevin looked up. They made eye contact in that moment and Jamie broke out into uncontrollable laughter. Kevin joined in after a moment of confusion and for a minute or two; the two laughed.

After finally calming down, Jamie grabbed the brown bags he had been carrying and handed one to Kevin.

“You’re mom made brunch.” He explained as he opened his own bag to find the food packed in nice Tupperware containers. She had expected Jamie to come back. Smiling he pulled the top one out along with a plastic fork. The container was still warm.

“How’d she know you’d find me?” Kevin asked, doing the same as he opened his bag and grabbed the first bowl.

“I don’t know.” Jamie responded, popping open the lid on his container and scooping out a forkful of eggs. They were delicious and for several more minutes, the two were silent as they ate. After Jamie had finally worked his way to the pancakes – she had packed them pancakes! – he looked back up at Kevin.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you. About what you said back at my house.” Jamie said and Kevin froze in the middle of his hash browns. He looked surprised and wary, but he didn’t say a word and just let Jamie speak.

“You were right, I’m gay. I didn’t want to think I was gay because, well, I was raised by a traditional family. Mama would kill me if he knew I was gay.” Jamie explained, finding it easier to stick to his own premade script this time. He avoided looking directly at Kevin but noticed the taller boy was grinning from ear to ear. 

“Just because you helped me realize this does not mean you’re my boyfriend.” Jamie added on and Kevin visibly drooped. “I know, that’s the entire reason you wanted to prove to me that I was gay. But Kevin, I’ve never done this before. Not only have I never had a relationship, but I’ve never even seen a gay relationship in action.” Jamie explained and Kevin scooted just a bit closer.

“I can show you! We can work it out together.” Kevin offered and Jamie looked up, right into his eyes, feeling his face turn red.

“Maybe you can help me work through this gay thing, but I’m not ready for something real.” Jamie explained and Kevin very obviously drooped again. “Just for now.” Jamie tagged on and Kevin’s upset expression turned to a humble one of slight joy. Maybe just a bit too hopeful. 

For a little while longer they talked and Kevin helped explain a bit to Jamie, refraining from kissing, or cuddling, or doing anything excessively couple-y. As Jamie packed the Tupperware back into the bag he realized there was a small piece of paper at the bottom. Pulling it out he unfolded it.

‘You’re brother woke up at ten’ it read, and Jamie laughed. So his mom wasn’t completely a mind reader.

“What is it?” Kevin asked as he, too, began packing his things away. Jamie folded the paper and smiled up at him.

“Do you want to go see your brother?” Jamie asked and Kevin nodded, his face turning a bit toward fear at the idea of seeing Kyle after so long. The two of them stood up and headed toward the car, but before Kevin could unlock it Jamie grabbed the hand with the keys and took them away.

“I’m driving. You get some sleep.” He instructed and Kevin looked at him, clearly offended.

“Do you even know how to get there?” He asked and Jamie crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

“No, but I do know how to get to the city. I’ll just wake you up at that point.” He said and Kevin huffed, heading toward the passenger seat. Jamie was able to recall how to drive the beast without a problem as Kevin slept in the passenger seat.

As they approached the city, Jamie woke Kevin up and had the taller man direct him toward the hospital. They pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car, getting out with a flourish. This time, Jamie slipped his hand into Kevin’s and he felt the darker man tense up. When they made eye contact, Jamie told him that it would just this once and Kevin smiled, glad that Jamie was okay with being supportive as a friend.

They reached the front desk and Kevin requested seeing Kyle, only to be told that it was family only.

“Please, sir. Just this once.” Kevin pleaded and the man turned to look at Jamie. Behind the counter, the two of them were still holding hands, but the man couldn’t see this. Right as Jamie opened his mouth to tell Kevin that he was fine, the man from the dining area the previous night entered the lobby right behind them.

“If it isn’t late night friend!” He exclaimed, calling Jamie by some odd nickname he seemed to have come up with on his own. Both Kevin and Jamie turned to look at him as he approached. “Here to see your brother?” This was directed at Kevin, who nodded, but looked down at Jamie. 

The man looked across the desk at the receptionist, who appeared to be wary of the louder man. With a crooked grin, diner dude realized what was happening.

“I see, you’re pulling the ‘only family’ card, right? I know it’s procedure, babe, but for these two can you let it slide?” Jamie’s gaze flicked between diner dude and the receptionist and realized the wary expression on the receptionists face was because his boyfriend was the one talking. 

“Fine, but you owe me.” The receptionist said, pulling up something on the computer as he said it. With an even more crooked grin (was that even possible?) diner dude leaned over the desk and whispered, just loud enough that Kevin and Jamie could hear.

“You know I have no problems owing you anything.” Which resulted in a dark pink blush across the receptionists face before he told Kevin what the room was and shooed the diner cashier away from the front desk. 

Kevin lead the way, as if he knew the direction by heart, and before long they were standing before the door where Kyle was staying. Kevin froze before the door and Jamie looked up at him. Kevin didn’t look toward him but simply stared at the door. Jamie gave his hand a small squeeze, which got Kevin’s attention, and the taller boy looked down.

All Jamie did was nod.

With a knock, Kevin opened the door and grinned at the very much awake Kyle, sitting propped up in the hospital bed.

“Hey bud.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaa! I hope you enjoyed the ride! I know I sure did! Have a great new year and check out my other fics!


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